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MINIATURE IN " BOOK OF HOURS." 
Jacqueline kneeling at the right of the Virgin. 



AMEDIAEVALPRINCESS 

BEING^TRUE RECORD ^'^ "^^^ 
CHANGING FORTUNES WHICH 
BROUGHT DIVERS TITLES 

"JACQUELINE 

COUNTESS ^^ HOLLAND 
TOGETHER WITH AN ACCOUNT 

^'f HER CONFLICT WITH 
PHILIP DUKE or BURGUNDY 
(1401 • 1436) 



BY RUTH PUTNAM 

HONORARY MEMBEPv OF THE 

'maatschappij van NEDERLANDSCHE 

LETTERKUNDE' AT LEYDEN 
AUTHOR «f WILLIAM the SILENT ETa 



GP PUTNAM S SONS 
NEW YORK 
LONDON 
1904- 



LIBPAfTY «* CONGRESS 
Two Cooies Received 

JUN 28 1904 

Oooyrtjrht Entry 
bLASS (X XXo. No. 
COPY B I 



Copyright, 1904 

BY 

RUTH PUTNAM 



Published, June, 1904 



Ube IRnicftcrbocfter iprcss, fkew ©orft 



A woman whose gracious personality has influenced 
many maidens of the nineteenth and a few of the 
twentieth century, once listened with pleasant interest 
to this story of a less fortunate damsel of long ago. In 
memory of the first sketch of the narrative this volume 
is affectionately inscribed to 

S. J. L 



PREFACE 

/^NLY a very audacious romancer would 
^^ dare to make his heroine pass through 
more varied fortunes than those actually 
experienced by Jacqueline, last independent 
sovereign in Holland, Zealand, and Hainaut. 
Orphaned at sixteen, no forethought dis- 
played by her father, no efforts of her suc- 
cessive husbands were able to defend her 
paternal heritage against the rapacity of her 
kinsmen. From the moment when she 
assumed the title in 14 17, already forlorn 
and widowed at the very opening of life, it 
was a foregone conclusion that at last the 
strongest man among her cousins and uncles, 
the Duke of Burgundy, should finally set 
aside her rights and, severing the tie which 
attached the otherwise autonomous count- 
ships to the Empire, sweep them into an 
expanding circle of territories, a circle whose 



vi preface 



periphery at last proved overstretched for its 
strength. 

The methods used by Philip of Spain, 
which led to the sixteenth century revolt of 
the Netherlands against his domination have 
been considered in all phases; but the de- 
tails of the entry of his Burgundian ancestor, 
Philip the Good, into Holland a century and 
a half earlier have received scanty notice in 
English. Yet the story is full of interest in 
giving a picture of the meeting between the 
modern and the mediaeval worlds. More- 
over, Jacqueline's alliances with the Royal 
Houses of France and of England, the in- 
cidents of Imperial and Papal interference 
in her fortunes, and the way in which her 
matrimonial ventures brought about inter- 
national complications make her a striking 
figure of her times. Her contemporary, 
Jeanne d'Arc, fought against and was finally 
conquered by the same men with whom Jac- 
queline maintained her futile struggle. The 
peasant girl has received much attention 
from posterity; the princess, little; and per- 
haps this account of her and her lost cause 



preface vii 



may interest those who like to read the foot- 
notes of history. 

The authorities whereon the narrative rests 
are described elsewhere, but here 1 would 
make grateful acknowledgment for the cor- 
dial assistance in their use given to me at 
the libraries of Columbia and Cornell Uni- 
versities, and at the New York Public Library. 
With every year our historical material 
grows richer and becomes more available. 
Governments and learned societies abroad 
are exerting themselves to publish records 
and documents while librarians are co-oper- 
ating with archivists to the great advantage 
of students. 

My warmest thanks are especially due to 
Dr. Billings and to the various members of 
his staff at the Astor for unfailing courtesy. 
I also desire to express my gratitude to Dr. 
Bijvanckof the Royal Library at The Hague 
for his kind suggestions, and to Prof. Blok 
and Dr. Japikse for their aid at various times 
from across the sea. 

R. P. 

New York, April, 1904. 



PAGE 



CONTENTS 

Preface ^ 

CHAPTER I 

Daughter OF Holland (1401-1417) . . - i 

CHAPTER II 

The Heritage (1417) ..... i^ 

CHAPTER III 

The Second Marriage (1418) . . . . 55 

CHAPTER IV 

The Three Johns (1418-1419) .... 52 

CHAPTER V 

Domestic Quarrels (14 19-1420) ... 60 

CHAPTER VI 

Refuge in Hainaut (1420) . , , * lo 

CHAPTER Vll 

Jacqueline in England (1421-1424) ... 84 

CHAPTER VIII 

Sovereign in Hainaut (1424) . . . .112 



Contents 



CHAPTER IX PAGE 

Hopes and Fears (1424-1425) . . .124 

CHAPTER X 

In Prison and Out (1425) . . . .147 

CHAPTER XI 

The Countess Militant (1426-1428) . .173 

chapter XII 
The Lost Cause (1428) 188 

chapter XIII 

The Silent Partner (1428-1433) . . .213 

chapter XIV 
Lady Forester (1433- 1436) .... 247 

chapter XV 
Her Last Will (1436) 262 

chapter XV! 

The Lady and the Land .... 282 

Bibliography 315 

Index 32} 



ILLUSTRATIONS 

PAGE 

Jacqueline Kneeling, in Miniature of the Annun- 
ciation Frontispiece 

One of eleven miniatures in a Book of Hours, illumin- 
ated for Jacqueline after her marriage to Frank van Borselen. 
In possession of M. le Comte de Murard, France. De- 
scribed by Leopold Delisle, Bibliotheque de V Ecole du 
Charles, 1903, p. 314. Reproduction loaned by Mr. 
W. G. C. Bijvanck, the Royal Library, The Hague. 

William VI of his Name, 27th Count of Hol- 
land, of Zealand, and of Friesland, also 
Count of Hainaut 6 

Gulielmus Bavariae. Engraver, K. Sichem. La Grande 
Chronique de HoUande, etc. Jean Francois Le Petit, i., 
p. 336. Dordrecht, 1601. 

H6tel-de-Ville, Compiegne .... 12 

Voyages dans V ancienne France. MM, Taylor, Nodier, 
et de Cailleux, Paris, 1845. Picardie, vol. iii. 

Retable in Church of St. Waltrude at Mons, 

XVth Century 22 

Monuments classes de I'art dans les Pays-Bas. Van 
Ysendyck. 

Portal at Zutphen. XVth Century ... 30 

Monuments classes de I'art dans les Pays-Bas. Van 
Ysendyck. 

Jacqueline's Seal Appended to Document of 
August 4, 141 5, at The Hague. (After 
the marriage to John, Duke of Touraine.) 

Tailpiece 43 



xii miuetratione 



PAGE 



Photo from original preserved in the archives at Lille, 
Shield shows lilies of France on one half; the arms oi 
Bavaria and the four lions of Holland-Hainaut in the other 
quarters. Legend -f- sigillu. Jacobe de Bavarie. ducisse 
. . . et comitesse. Pontiou. 

John of Bavaria ...... ^6 

Soy disant Tuteur de Hollande (Dfis Johannes Bavarie). 
La Grande Chronique, etc., i., p. 358. 

John, Duke of Bedford, Kneeling before St. 

George. 1430 44 

Bedford Missal. Photo from original. MS. Add. 18850. 

Flood in South Holland, Owing to a Break in 

the Dikes. 1421 50 

[Drawn originally from a description in Scriverii Batav. 
lllustr., p. 130.] Vaderlandsche Historie. Jan Wag- 
enaar, Amsterdam, 1752. 

Jacqueline's Seal Appended to Document, June 

22, 14 1 7 . . . . Tailpiece 31 

Photo from original preserved at Lille. Quarterings show 
arms of France, Bavaria, Dauphiny, and Holland-Hainaut. 
Legend: S. Jaque ducisse. Bavar. dalphfe. vien coitesse. 
hanonie. Z. Hollandie. 

Portrait of Jacqueline 62 

Jacqueline de Baviere; 29th Sovereign in Holland, Zea- 
land, and Friesland, also Countess and Lady of Hainaut. 
ijacoha Bavarice) Le Petit, La Grande Chronique, etc., i., 

p. 358- 

Inscription. 

L'amour par quatre fois me mit en mariage, 

Et si n'ay sceu pourtant accroistre mon lignage. 

Gorrichem i'ay conquis, contre Guillaume Arcklois 

En un jour i'ay perdu presques trois mille Anglois. 

Pour avoir mon Mary de sa prison delivre 

Au Due des Bourgoingnons tous mes Pays ie livre. 

Dix ans regnay en paine : ore avec mon Ayeul 

Contente ie repose en un mesme cerceuil. 



miuetrationa xiii 



Jacqueline's Seal Appended to Document Grant- 
ing Estates to the Dowager Countess. Octo- 
ber 6, 141 7 . . . . Tailpiece 6c) 

Photo from original preserved at Lille. Shield is inclosed 
in a hedge whence issue two branches. Quarterings show 
lilies of France, and the arms of Bavaria, of Dauphiny, and 
of Holland-Hainaut. Legend (S. Jaque) ducisse. Bavar. 
dalphie vien. coitisse Hanonie. Hollie. Z. dne. 

Portrait of Henry V, after one at Windsor Castle 78 

" Heroes of the Nations." From Henrjy V. Frontis- 
piece. 

The Poet Lydgate in his Study ... 86 

Contemp. MS. Harleian 2248, British JVluseum. Photo 
from original, 

Henry V and Catherine of France. 1420 . . 92 

From an old print. Lenox Library. 

Duke Humphrey's Library. Bodleian Library, 

Oxford 100 

Ackerman's //zs/or^o/Ox/br^. London, 1814. ii., 229. 

Anne of Burgundy, Duchess of Bedford, Kneel- 
ing before the Virgin and Child . . .110 

Bedford Missal, MS. Add. 18850, British Museum. 
Photo from original. 

Cardinal Beaufort, Bishop of Winchester . .122 

From a painting in the collection of Horace Walpole. 

Twelve-Branched Candelabra Presented to the 
Citizens of Bois-le-Duc for their Bravery at 
Braine-le-Comte. 1425 . . . .134 

Monuments classes, etc. 

The Grafenstein at Ghent 148 

From Gent und Tournai. Henri Hymans, Leipzig, 1902. 



xiv miuatratione 



The Flight of the Duchess from Ghent. 1425 . 134 

From Algemeene Geschiedenis des l^aderlands. J. P. 
Arend, Amsterdam, 1844. 

This representation of Jacqueline with her rescuers and 
the view of the archery festival are excellent examples of 
numerous fanciful representations of her adventures. 
Naturally she has been a favourite subject for later-day 
painters in Holland. 

Jacqueline on the Battle-field . . . .174 

From Het yereenigd Nederland. ]. P. Martinet, Am- 
sterdam, 1788. 

River Fishing .... Tailpiece 187. 

From Harleian MS. No. 4374. 

Portrait of Henry VI 190 

¥xom J eonne d'Arc, p. 298, *' Heroes of the Nations." 

Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester . . . 200 

From a painting at Strawberry Hill. Ackerman's His- 
tory of Oxford, ii., p. 272. London, 1814. 

Seal Appended to the Treaty of Delft, July 3, 

1428 i .208 

Photo from original preserved in the archives at Lille. 
Shield shows arms of Bavaria quartered with those of 
Hainaut-HoUand, placed before the Virgin with the Child. 
Legend: S. Jacob. H'toginne. in Beyer, gravine. van. 
Heneg. van Hollant. van Zeelt. va pont. en vrou va vriesl. 

Costume in the Time of Henry V. Tailpiece . 212 

From Royal MS., 15 D. 5. 

The Countess at an Archery Festival . . 220 

From Algemeene Geschiedenis des yaderlands. ]. P. 
Arend, Amsterdam, 1844, "■> 2. 

Portrait of Jacqueline 230 

Original by Jan Van Eyck has disappeared. Taken 
from a copy preserved in the Royal Museum at Copenhagen, 



miuetrationa xv 



No. 180. Wood 2 ft. 4 in. by 1 ft. /^]4 in. Inscription: 
" Dame Jacoba de Baviere Comtesse de Hollande." Repro- 
duced from Hubert and Jan Van Eyck. L. Kaemmerer. 
p. 47 Kunstler Monographien. Ed. Knackfuss, 

Portrait of Lord Frank van Borselen . . . 240 

Photo from original at Amsterdam in the Royal Museum. 

Facsimile of Page of MS. Copy of Jean Frois- 

sart's Dittiers Amour eus . . . .252 

Photo from original in the National Library, Paris. 

Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, and Eleanor his 
Wife, Received into the Confraternity of 
St. Albans. 143 1 260 

From photograph of the original. British Museum, 
MS. Cott. Nero, D. Vll, circa. 1460. 

Statue of Jeanne d'Arc at Compiegne . . 270 

From Jeanne d'Arc, by Mrs. Oliphant, " Heroes of the 
Nations." 

MS. Volume of Froissart 284 

Photo from original. 831. National Library, Paris. 
Phrases on fly-leaves relating to Jacqueline. 

Facsimile of Fly-Leaf with Inscription . . 306 
Facsimile of Fly-Leaf with Inscription . . 308 
Portrait of Jacqueline (Kr^z/y^<;o^^) . . . 312 

Photo from original at Amsterdam in Royal Museum. 

The Tiger and the Butterfly . . Tailpiece 314 

By kind permission of Anna Botsford Comstock. 



H ^l^e^ia^val princess 



CHAPTER I 
Daughter of Holland 

i^N St. James's Day, 1401, a little girl 
^^ was born in the Count's Palace at The 
Hague, sixteen years after the marriage' of 
her parents, William Count of Ostrevant and 
Margaret of Burgundy. At the date of his 
daughter's birth. Count William was Son of 
Holland, as heir to his father Albert,^ first 
Ruward and later Count of Holland, Zealand, 
and Hainaut. Three years later the child 
became Daughter of Holland, as acknow- 

* May 1 1, 1 385, Cartulaire des Comtes de Hainaut, public par Leo- 
pold Devillers, Bruxelles, 1889, Hi., p, x, 

^ The descendants of Albert retained the Bavarian name from his 
father, Emperor Lewis of Bavaria. Albert's mother, Margaret of Hol- 
land, inherited the sovereignty of the province^ in the Netherlands 
from her childless brother, William, 1346, and left it to her second 
son, William of Bavaria, whom Albert, the third son, succeeded. 

I 



a flDebi^val prince06 



ledged successor and sole heir to her father, 
then Count William VI. 

Undoubtedly both fatherland and father 
would have been better pleased with a son. 
There was some doubt abroad whether the 
Countship of Holland were not a male fief 
of the Empire. To be sure this doubt had 
been settled half a century earlier by the 
imperial recognition of Margaret as legal 
heiress to her childless brother Count Wil- 
liam IV, in 1 346. But the then Emperor, Lewis 
of Bavaria, was Margaret's husband, and 
thus he was not disinterested in acknowledg- 
ing rights that gave honour to his wife and 
provision for his younger sons. Under other 
circumstances imperial claims might be re- 
vived if the overlord should chance to see 
personal advantage in a lapsed fief. 

The saint on whose day the baby was 
born was honoured in the name selected, 
and she was baptised ' ' jacoba. " In Hainaut 
the name is usually the French ''Jacque- 
line," but it is found in many documents 
simply as Jacob or Jacque, as Vrouw Jacob, 
Madame Jacque. In ordinary English litera- 



Daugbter of IboIIanb 



ture she is known as Jacqueline, though she 
also appears as plain Dame Jake, and often, 
too, as Jaque de Baviere. 

The question of the future husband of 
this national daughter was an important 
one and was mooted before she had cut her 
first teeth. She still lacked some weeks of 
completing her fifth year when she was 
formally betrothed to John, Duke of Tou- 
raine, second son of Charles VI of France. 
This alliance was negotiated by the Duke of 
Burgundy at a moment when he was domi- 
nant over the insane king, and it was fur- 
thered by his sister Margaret, Countess of 
Holland, Jacqueline's mother. The betrothal 
was made an occasion for the grand festivi- 
ties ever dear to Burgundian princes and was 
celebrated at Compiegne, whither the Coun- 
tess conducted the little bride to meet the 
nine -year -old bridegroom. Nothing was 
lacking but the presence of the two fathers: 
Charles was at that moment in one of the 
crises of his periodic insanity, and a tempo- 
rary mishap detained Count William, as we 
learn incidentally from the accounts. To 



a flDebi^val iprinceee 



meet the wedding expenses special taxes 
were imposed, and Philip van Dorp/ the 
treasurer, has left an itemised record of 
the receipts and expenditures, a record that 
throws many side-lights on the times.^ 
''Item, William and John, Bastards of Hol- 
land, Simon van Bruweliis and Gilliis van 
Gonengiis were sent to the King of France 
on my dear lord's behalf to tell him that my 
gracious lord was bitten by a dog and for 
that reason could not attend the wedding. 
Allowance for travelling expenses (teergeld) 
44 French crowns."^ 

Staes, Jan, and Hans, trumpeter, drummer, 
and piper, are to have six French crowns 
collectively for their travelling expenses if 
they will go to the aforesaid wedding. 



' He was husband to Beatrice, illegitimate daughter of Count 
William. 

2 See Codex Diplomaticus Neerlandicus. Hist. Genootschap te 
Utrecht, 1853, p. 163. " Rekening van Philips van Dorp," 1406, 
copied from the original records on parchment in the Royal archives 
at The Hague. 

3 In another item it appears that the allowance for one messenger 
with a servant and a horse was one crown per day, twenty-two 
crowns for twenty-two days. A French crown at this date varied 
greatly in quality, but it was current at about twenty-five sous 
tournois, and worth about six shillings. A livre paresis was worth 
a quarter more than a livre tournois. 



DauQbter of IboUanb 



Treasurer van Dorp's receipts in all 
amounted to about 8600 French crowns, 
his expenditure was 8210^^ French crowns, 
25I groots, and he thus has a clear surplus of 
388^ French crowns, 14^^ groots. Thisamount 
''Philip van Dorp shall include among 
his assets when he next settles his account." 

There was evidently no stinting in the 
preparations. For instance, even the stay- 
at-home members of the Count's household 
were supplied with wedding garments in 
honour of the occasion, and the single item of 
trimming for the hats of the councillors was 
equal to the allowance for a journey to Paris. 

There were other doings at Compiegne 
besides the infant betrothal, as the wedding 
of Isabella of Orleans was also celebrated, 
but that is another story and a sad one. 
The betrothal took place on June 29th, and 
from that date Jacqueline is designated 
Duchess of Touraine, although that the 
ceremony was considered as nothing but a 
promise for the future, is shown by an article 
in the contract, that if the bride failed to fulfil 
her part an indemnity of two hundred thou- 



H flDcMa^val princeee 



sand golden crowns should be paid to John 
of Touraine. Another article provided that 
he should receive a quarter of a million 
crowns if the birth of a son to Count Wil- 
liam should cut off his daughter from the 
succession. Due provision was also made 
for Jacqueline's possible widowhood. 

All formalities concluded, the bridegroom 
was delivered over to the care of his mother- 
in-law with an annual allowance of sixteen 
thousand crowns to provide for his educa- 
tion. Then Countess Margaret and her 
brother-in-law, John of Bavaria, Bishop- 
elect of Liege, escorted the infant couple 
to Le Quesnoy, where Count William was 
awaiting them, probably recovering from 
his dog-bite, though that is something we 
hear no more about for the time. 

''On Thursday, July 8th, a fine deputa- 
tion set out from Mons to salute Monseign- 
eur and Madame of Touraine, " and it is to be 
hoped that the children received their ''rev- 
erences " with all propriety. After this fol- 
lows a journey to Paris, and then history 
does not busy herself with recording the 




Guihrhmis naunrur Sl'^ 



ttis 



WILLIAM VI, COUNT OF HOLLAND. 
XVI century print. 



2)augbter of Ibollanb 



doings of Jacqueline and John, who were 
being educated for their future responsibili- 
ties according to the lights of the time. 

On October 23, 1409, Monsieur of Tou- 
raine, receives a present of two measures 
of wine and three fish, the latter significant 
of feudal duty, while to Madame is given 
twenty-two ells of cloth of silk, mout bieV 
(Hainaut dialect for very fine). 

Then in 1412, comes a special dispensa- 
tion from the Pope to Margaret of Burgundy, 
permitting her to eat meat on fast days, be- 
cause she, weakened by her confinement, 
suffers from a very cold stomach ''and, as 
we hear, fish does not agree with thee." 
The dispensation is extended to her daugh- 
ter, the Duchess of Touraine, to the napkin- 
bearer, the cook, and ten other servants who 
have to test the dishes beforehand.^ In 
1412, several acts are issued in France to 
the advantage of John of Touraine to suit 
his requirements as he emerges from the 

' Frans de Potter. Geschiedenis van Jacoha van Beieren, p. 2 1 . 
Memoires couronnes de I'acad. royale de Belgique, xxxi. 

"^ Frans van Mieris. Groot Charterhoek der Graven van Holland ^ 
etc., iv., p. 228 et al. 



8 H fiDeblaeval princeea 

years of childhood.^ In all these Vrouw 
Jacob is mentioned as his "wife and dear 
companion," but the marriage was still in 
the future. The fact of their consanguinity 
required a papal dispensation for their al- 
liance, which was granted on May lo, 141 1. 
It is signed by Pope John XXlll.^ 

Four years later the nuptials were cele- 
brated in The Hague with pomp and 
magnificence. 

August 6, 14 1 5, is the date of the first 
document of public import bearing the joint 
signatures of the pair recognised as the fu- 
ture rulers of Holland, Zealand, and Hainaut.^ 
They pledge themselves to preserve intact 
the privileges of the land and to follow 
Count William's example in all things. 
When the formalities were concluded the 
young pair departed in state for Hainaut to 
spend the white-bread weeks, as the honey- 
moon is termed. 



' De Potter, p. 23. 

2 Groot Placaat Boek, iii., p. 8. John appears in this as the guardian 
of his wife. In a way, the provisions imply a recognition of the 
imperial suzerainty. See Jan Wagenaar. yaderlandsche Historie, 
xi., p. 400. 3 Van Mieris, iv., p. 342. 



Dauobter of IboIIanb 



There are many references here and there 
to the imperioLisness of '' Vrouw Jacob who 
early tasted the sweetness of command." 
So gentle was the nature of the French boy 
that he meekly obeyed his baby bride dur- 
ing their nursery days, and probably did not 
abandon the habit when they actually be- 
came husband and wife. 

Before the year closed the Duchess of 
Touraine wore a new and prouder title. 
The death of his eldest brother made John 
of Touraine Dauphin and heir to the French 
crown, and the Daughter of Holland became 
Dauphiness of Vienne. To be sure, the re- 
sult of the battle of Agincourt had dimmed 
the brightness of that crown, but there was 
always hope that under different circum- 
stances its rays would burst through the 
English mist and shine out with new splen- 
dour. Count William showed at this time a 
far greater preoccupation about his daugh- 
ter's inheritance than about that of his son- 
in-law. In the spring of 14 16, Emperor 
Sigismund visited England to further a pro- 
ject of a general European peace. Count 



lo a flDeMa^val Iprinceea 

William hastened across the Channel to 
have an opportunity to see the Emperor 
and to obtain his promise to recognise Jac- 
queline as future sovereign in his three pro- 
vinces. Sigismund was not ready in his 
acquiescence. Not exactly refusing, he put 
a counter-question: ''Hast thou neither 
brother nor cousin to be thy heir ? " Now 
Count William certainly had a brother, John- 
of Bavaria, Bishop-elect of Liege. He was 
a worldly, ambitious, unscrupulous man 
with great skill in military affairs, wholly 
unfitted for the ecclesiastical career to which 
he was pledged. Count William, was rich, 
too, in cousins free from clerical disqualifi- 
cations, one of whom might be his heir. 
But that was not what he wanted. It was 
his own daughter's rights that he wished 
to fortify. Apparently he did not attempt 
to argue the matter with his feudal chief. 
When repulsed he simply cut short his 
stay in England, hastened back to Holland, 
and called an assembly of nobles and cities; 
and at The Hague on August 13, 1416, " did 
every noble and each representative of the 



Baugbter of 1bonan5 1 1 

cities^ stretch out the fingers of one hand 
and place the other hand on saints' relics 
while swearing solemnly, each and all, to 
recognise Jacqueline as their true sovereign, 
to aid her against her foes with body and 
wealth, etc. " ^ Shortly afterwards, the same 
oath was taken in Hainaut. 

It is evident that little heed was paid to 
feudal obligations. As a matter of fact the 
bond between Holland and the Empire had 
long been shadowy. 

While Count William was providing for 
his heir apparent, demands came from 
France for the Dauphin. The Count was 
reluctant to trust him in the midst of fac- 
tions whose leaders showed little regard 
for any life that might stand in their way. 
Finally he consented that the young pair 
should meet Queen Isabelle at Senlis while 
he journeyed to Paris alone. ^ 

Most graciously was the young Dau- 

' Haarlem, Delft, Leyden, Amsterdam, Gouda, Rotterdam, Oude- 
water, Hoorn, Schiedam, Alkmaar, Dordrecht, and ten smaller places, 
besides the cities of Zealand. 

^ Van Mieris, iv., p. 384, etc. 

^ La Chronique d'Enguerrand de Monstrelet. (Soc. de I'hist. de 
France, 1859), iv., chap. 163. 



12 H fiDeMa^val princeee 

phiness received by the Queen-mother and 
the nobles. After a few days the Court ad- 
journed to Compiegne, where the childish 
troth had been plighted eleven years back/ 
This was in Lent, 1417 (1416 o. s.). 

In Paris, Count William found things 
going very ill. Reconciliation between the 
jarring factions seemed impossible. There 
was bitter opposition to the Duke of Bur- 
gundy, and the Count made his cause his 
own. ''On Tuesday, the next to the last 
day of March, the Count of Hainaut declared 
in full assembly of the King's Council that 
he would put the Dauphin and the Duke of 
Burgundy in Paris together, or he would 
take the Dauphin back to Hainaut. A day 
or two later a rumour came to the Count's 
ears that there was a plot afoot to capture 
him and hold him in durance until the 
Dauphin were restored to his father."^ 
''And this was why on the morrow, very 

^ The young Dauphin acknowledges a debt of 6000 crowns to 
Count William, and promises to pay it. This is dated at Compiegne, 
March 15, 1416(17). See Van Mieris, iv., p. 365. Cartulaire des 
Comtes de Hainaut, iv., p. 6^. 

2 Monstrelet, iv., chap. 163. Cartulaire, iv., p. 65. 




Hotel de ville, compiegne. 



Daugbter of IboUanb 13 

early in the morning, he pretended to start 
for Saint-Mor des Fossez, on a pilgrimage, as 
though he were to return that night to 
Paris." Once beyond the gates, however. 
Count William put spurs to his horse and 
rode with all speed to Compiegne. As he 
drew near the gate he heard that the Dau- 
phin was ill. When he reached the lad's 
bedside he found a pitiable sight. Panting 
for breath, his eyes starting from his head, 
lay the poor young prince. He was, in 
fact, already at death's door. On Palm 
Sunday, April, 141 7, he grew steadily worse, 
on the following day he gave up his gentle 
spirit and the Easter days that followed had 
no joy for Jacqueline. 

Rumour was busy with the causes of this 
untoward decease. Some said that, when 
the Dauphin was overheated from tennis, 
a servant, bribed by the Armagnacs, had 
found means to touch his perspiring neck 
with poisoned hands. Others were ready 
with tales of other poisoned objects forced 
into contact with him. All agreed that it 
was not the judgment of God which doomed 



14 H flDebia^val prince60 

the youth to premature death, and Jacque- 
line to an early widowhood. 

Evidently the Count lost no time in leav- 
ing Compiegne with his party. 

*' On Easter Monday there set forth from 
Mons Willaumes de Haucin, etc., with 
twelve horse and betook themselves to 
Quesnoy, to our most excellent lord and 
sovereign and Madame the Dauphiness, to 
condole with them for the death of Mon- 
seigneurthe Dauphin."^ 

Six weeks later there was new reason to 
offer condolence to the young widow. For 
some time Count William had suffered 
from a swelling on his thigh, resulting, ap- 
parently, from the accident of 1406.^ When 
it began to trouble him anew he did not 
take time to attend to it until after a con- 
ference with the Duke of Burgundy at 
Douay. Then he went to his favourite 
residence of Bouchain, and called a surgeon 
to examine the cause of his pain. The sur- 

^ Cartulaire, iv., p. 67. 

2 See Wagenaar, xi., p. 41 1. Le Petit states that the wound was 
an old one, resulting from the bite of a dog. La grande chronique 
de Hollande, i., p. 352, 



©augbter of Ibollanb 15 

geon took counsel of none, but proceeded 
to lance the swelling on his own responsi- 
bility. The operation was not successful. 
It was evidently a case of blood poisoning. 
The Count grew worse, lost heart, and re- 
signed himself to his approaching end. His 
one absorbing preoccupation as he lay on 
his death-bed was the succession of his 
daughter. The outlook was not promising 
for her. During two generations Holland 
had been the prey of certain political fac- 
tions called the Hooks and the Cods.^ 
Count William's adherents were Hooks. 
The most powerful family in the hostile 
party was that of the Arkels. Count Wil- 
liam had had no more bitter opponent than 
William of Arkel. Would he be as bitter 
in his enmity to the daughter? That was a 
dread that haunted the dying man. Grad- 
ually he conceived the notion that if this 
one foe could be made friend and husband 

' The origin of these names is obscure. The parties came into ex- 
istence in the contest between Margaret and her son, William of 
Bavaria. The Bavarian colour, greyish blue, may have led to the 
comparison of William's followers to codfish, while the term Hook was 
applied to those who tried to catch them. 



1 6 a flDcMaeval princeee 

to Jacqueline, protection would be secured 
for her and tranquillity for the land. It is 
said that he proffered the young widow's 
hand to Arkel, and that his refusal of the 
honour was a slight never forgiven by Jac- 
queline. The story does not rest on very 
reliable authority, though it contains a 
shadow of probability.^ Another version is 
that Count William desired this alliance, but 
that Jacqueline herself made the proposal, 
which was rejected. The continuation of 
Jan van Boendale's Brabantsche Yeesten^ 
tells another tale: 

** And as the Duke William 
Lay on his death-bed very low, 
So that he never more arose, 
Then he longed and he wished 
That a match should be 
Betwixt Duke John, this is pure truth, 
And his only daughter." 

The duke was John of Brabant, son of 
the Duke Anthony who had met his death 
at Agincourt. Anthony was a Burgundian, 

^ See Bertha enjacoha, J. van Lennep. 

'^ Book vii., ch. 55. Jakohda von Bayern und ihre Zeit. Franz 
V. Loher, i., p. 275, etc. See also Cartulaire, iv., p. 70. 



Daugbter of 1bonan& 17 

brother to Countess Margaret of Holland, 
and she it was who urged the marriage, as 
an alliance between her daughter and 
nephew promised to bring Jacqueline closer 
in touch with Burgundian interests. 

Negotiations to this end were on foot, but 
nothing was completed when Count Wil- 
liam was forced to leave all worldly cares to 
be settled by others. On May 31st, the 
Daughter of Holland lost her father, and it 
was unsupported by husband or betrothed 
that she turned to her fatherland to ask 
formal acknowledgment as hereditary sov- 
ereign there and in Zealand and Hainaut, 
after Count William's body had been laid 
to rest among his ancestors in The Hague. 
His heart however was carried to Bouchain 
in accordance with his behest. 



CHAPTER II 

The Heritage 

1417 

T^HERE seemed no lack of natural protect- 
^ ors for the young countess, widowed 
and orphaned though she were. The 
danger was lest her protectors might pro- 
tect too much, because her territories lay 
in such tempting proximity to their own. 
On the one side was Jacqueline's paternal 
uncle, John of Bavaria, bishop-elect of 
Liege. Only the young niece and his cleri- 
cal vows stood between him and succes- 
sion to his brother's land. On the other 
side was her maternal uncle, John, Duke 
of Burgundy, who was also Count of Flan- 
ders. Brabant, under John, nephew to this 
duke and to Countess Margaret, was ad- 
jacent both to Hainaut and to Holland. The 

two elder Johns, the Fearless and the Piti- 

18 



ZTbc Iberitage 19 

less, had promised the late Count William 
to protect their niece. This younger John 
was regarded in the family as the proper hus- 
band for the young widow. Geographic- 
ally nothing could have been better than 
the proposed union of the lands; nothing 
more ill matched than the proposed union 
of the two sovereigns. John numbered 
fewer years than the sturdy, well-developed, 
vigorous young woman, besides being her 
inferior mentally, morally, and physically; 
but such considerations were ignored in the 
family conclave. 

It was, however, under no other protec- 
tion than that of her mother that Jacqueline 
proceeded to take steps to receive homage 
in her father's lands. In Hainaut there was 
no delay. 

'' On June i ith ' the sheriffs and council- 
lors of the city [Mons] met together, be- 
cause it was said that Madame the Dau- 
phiness was coming to the city of Mons to 
take oath of sovereignty, which she did the 
Sunday morning following." 

* Cartulaire, iv., p. 79. 



20 a flDebia^val iprlnceee 

The province of Hainaut was entirely 
different from the flats of Holland and Zea- 
land, over which hovered the active genius 
of commerce. The time spirit of the twelfth 
century, the spirit of chivalry, with its at- 
tendant corps of feudal and mediaeval vota- 
ries, was dominant among the wooded hills 
of Hainaut, long after it had disappeared 
elsewhere before the inroads of modern life. 
The cities were far behind those of the 
sister provinces, both in rank and inde- 
pendence. In Mons, the patrician rulers 
had enforced the ancient law that stray 
serfs could not be claimed by their masters 
after the lapse of a year and a day, and had 
turned many refugees into good citizens, 
so that the civic population had increased. 
In Valenciennes, too, there were signs of 
new burgher life. Still neither place could 
compare with Ghent, Brussels, or Dordrecht, 
while a score of lesser Hainaut towns were 
only beginning to bud into cities, and oth- 
ers remained nothing more than mere castle 
settlements. As a rule, people and corpora- 
tions were wholly submissive to nobles 



Z\)c Iberitage 21 

and prelates, and of these there was no 
dearth. 

The whole length of the land was about 
twenty-two leagues, yet that narrow space 
contained eight counts, one prince, one 
marquis, six high hereditary officers, and 
twenty lords lesser in dignity, but entitled 
to display their own standards or banners. 

In addition to these lay nobles, there were 
those of the Church. Eleven abbots and 
thirteen abbesses enjoyed the prerogative of 
wearing great golden crosses on their breasts, 
and a full dozen were entitled to use crozier 
and mitre like a bishop. These were live 
potentates, jealous of the fragments of au- 
thority that time and custom had lodged in 
their hands. There were also dead hands 
potent in their sway. Where certain saints 
lay buried was holy ground, offering sanc- 
tuary to all that took refuge there for any 
reason whatsoever; and reason enough there 
was in those troublous times to cause the 
immune territory to be well populated. 

Jacqueline's progress^ through Hainaut to 

^ For a description of the progress of a new sovereign, see Chronica 



22 a flDe&ia^val princeee 

exchange oaths of fealty with her subjects 
of all degrees, followed close on her father's 
funeral rites. When she and her train ar- 
rived before a city, she paused without the 
gates and waited until a procession com- 
posed of priests with their crosses, of city 
officials of distinguished burghers, and of 
trade gilds, with banners flying, marched 
out to greet their new sovereign. If she 
arrived late in the day and spent the night 
in a town, she had to leave on the morrow 
by the same gate which she had entered. 
As she rode in she was saluted by the ring- 
ing of all the bells and by shouts of welcome 
from the populace. This was her ''joyous 
entry." Flags streamed from the towers, 
the streets were strewn with flowers, the 
houses decked with hangings and garlands. 
Here and there gay-coloured cloths, often 
embroidered in gold and silver, were 
stretched across the street. The windows 



duciim Lotharingice et Brahantice ac regum Francorum auctore 
magistro Edmundo de Dynter, lib. vi., Cap. 140, etc. [French 
translation of De Ram bound in same volume.] Dynter was in the 
court of John IV of Brabant. See Bibliography ; also Cartulaire, 
iv., p. 85; also, Loher, !., p. 291, elaborated with some fantasy. 




RETABLE IN CHURCH OF ST. WALTRUDE. 
Mons. 



^be Iberitage 23 

were filled with ladies who held chains of 
flowers which reached over to the opposite 
houses. Maidens threw wreaths over 
Jacqueline's arm. Sometimes certain par- 
ticipants who joined in the procession were 
personce non gratce to the towns. These were 
outlaws and exiles who had lurked without 
the walls, anxiously awaiting the coming of 
the new ruler, to take the opportunity of 
returning home under her wing at a mo- 
ment when feuds were in abeyance, with 
the hope that she would mediate between 
them and their judges, so that the ban 
against them would be removed. At the 
time of Jacqueline's progress, some of the 
cities took the precaution of issuing in ad- 
vance a prohibition against the return of all 
such undesirable gentry. 

Once within the walls the procession 
would advance slowly until it reached the 
great church. Jacqueline's first action on 
entering the edifice was to kneel before the 
holy relics and kiss them. Then, before the 
high altar, she swore to preserve all privi- 
leges and good usages of the city, to protect 



24 a fll^e&ia^\)al princeee 

the Church and the helpless, to strengthen 
the right and weaken the wrong. There 
was a whole series of successive oaths in 
the homage cerejnonial. 

At Mons, Jacqueline took her first oath 
upon the relics of St. Waltrude, the town's 
patron saint; then she took the sovereign's 
oath in the presence of prelates and nobles 
at the castle, and lastly she took a third oath 
to the municipal corporation. Then the 
procession returned to the church where 
Jacqueline received homage and renewed 
or distributed such fiefs as lay in her gift. 

In the various localities certain minor cus- 
toms had to be observed before her invest- 
iture was complete into her hereditary 
rights and her paternal estates, her family 
property and her sovereign privileges. As a 
matter of fact, the separation between the 
two was not very distinct. 

Here the ceremonial was terminated by 
her being led to a belfry where she rang the 
bell with her own hand. There she went 
to some cloister or foundation to grant a 
benefice with hand and brief. Elsewhere, 



^be Ibcritage 



as was the usage in Holland, she appeared 
before a tribunal, where a trial took place, 
and she pronounced judgment, and ordered 
the beadle to execute the same. This was 
to show that from her emanated authority 
of the judge, as hers came from the Emperor. 

When the actual act of homage was per- 
formed, she was seated on a lofty throne, 
surrounded by hereditary officials. These 
were nobles in whose families various of- 
fices had become mere honorary posts, con- 
ferring titles and no duties. Such were the 
hereditary marshal, cup-bearer, seneschal, 
chamberlain, and kitchen steward. The day 
of homage was an occasion for them to ap- 
pear in the full glory of all their insignia and 
to go through the form of their titular duties. 

The Grand Chancellor and his Privy Coun- 
cil were the first to swear fealty. Then came 
various executive and administrative officials 
under a variety of names. These were the 
Count's own functionaries, wearing his arms 
and livery like his own household.^ 

^ The immediate household did not have to offer homage. They 
had taken a new oath on the demise of Count William. 



26 a flDebla^val princeee 

At this time there were fewer hereditary 
officers than had existed formerly. Sover- 
eigns were beginning to appoint castellans 
and various other officials for definite terms 
and at fixed salaries. Gradually a race of 
modern functionaries were coming into be- 
ing. It must be remembered that in this 
early fifteenth century the actual extent of 
territory administered by the count's de- 
puties was exceedingly small. In all the 
Church lands the prelates were totally in- 
dependent. When offering their homage, 
the clerical dignitaries lent special splendour 
to the scene with their sparkling staffs, 
golden crosses, and gorgeous robes, but 
they were quite conscious that they needed 
no help from a feudal chief in managing 
their own temporal as well as spiritual af- 
fairs. A few benefices were in the direct 
gift of the count, and he could ask aid 
from the incumbents in time of war. That 
was all. 

After the prelates, abbots, abbesses, and 
capitularies came greater and lesser nobles 
with their banners and standards. They 



Zhe Ibentage 27 

paid homage, received their fiefs, and swore 
fealty to their new sovereign as nominal 
mistress of their estates, but every one re- 
mained sole monarch on his own ground. 

Nor had the prince any more real concern 
in the affairs of the cities whose representa- 
tives followed the nobles. The civic pro- 
cessions were long and pompous, and the 
city fathers were proudly conscious of their 
own importance. At the head marched 
magistrates and sheriffs, burgomasters and 
their councils. The patricians followed in 
a body, surrounded by the gildmasters. 
Each of these carried a sword, and here 
and there was one whose gold and silver 
ornaments showed that he had received the 
order of knighthood. 

The city fathers grouped themselves 
around the throne and took the oath of 
allegiance. Then the form of homage was 
read aloud, and the lifted hands and the ac- 
clamations of the assembled burghers were 
taken as a token of assent to the provisions. 

All charters and privileges ever granted to 
or bought by the cities under Jacqueline's 



28 a flDe&ia^val princeee 

predecessors were confirmed. This was a 
very important feature in the installation of 
new rulers on their ''joyous entry," and 
one jealously guarded by the municipal 
corporations. Their privileges, chartered 
or customary, were reaffirmed point by 
point, and the opportunity was taken to 
point out abuses of the former administra- 
tion and to demand redress. The homage 
was, in a way, the occasion of the renewal 
of a social contract. 

When the long series of oaths and pledges 
was finally completed, festivities of various 
kinds took place. It was in that wise that 
the nobles sealed their compact. On their 
part the cities and the wealthy abbeys 
offered gifts. A pile of gold pieces on sil- 
ver salvers was an ordinary civic present. 
Often, too, it was long before the debts 
were paid that had been incurred in all haste 
under the excitement of a joyous occasion. 

During the festivities in Mons a frightful 
hail-storm deluged the city. The sky grew 
black, and the wind howled. In the neigh- 
bourhood the hail killed many cattle and 



^be Ibcritage 29 

spoiled the chance of harvest. It was con- 
sidered of ill omen to Jacqueline, who had 
already met misfortune beyond her years. 

Valenciennes was the last town visited. 
" On Thursday, the 17th of the same month 
(June), the receivers went from Valenci- 
ennes to Mons, because the two ladies were 
there, who this day, after dinner, departed 
for Holland."^ 

It was high time that Jacqueline should 
turn to the northern province. Messenger 
after messenger had come from the late 
Count's friends to urge haste. There was 
by no means as much readiness there 
to accept the girl sovereign as in Hainaut. 
The party of the Cods, who had opposed 
Count William tooth and nail, continued 
their opposition to his daughter. The fort- 
ress of Ysselstein was their headquarters, 
and within the walls they were prepared to 
hold out to the last man. 

As Jacqueline crossed the frontier, accom- 
panied by many faithful Hainauters, she 
was met by the most distinguished Hook 

^ Recette generale de Hainaut, 1416-17. De Potter, p^ }6. 



30 a flDeMa^val prlnceee 

nobles. There was little or no show of 
pomp and joyousness in city and hamlet. 
The young Countess made her way soberly 
to Delft, Leyden, Amsterdam, Haarlem, 
through the country that looked like a 
scarred battle-field, and exchanged pledges 
of mutual protection and good faith with 
her subjects. She was surrounded by a 
body of men upon whose personal devo- 
tion she could rely, nobles whom she had 
known from childhood. And none were 
more devoted to Jacqueline than Eberhard, 
Lord of Hoogtwoude and Ludwig of Flush- 
ing, men who might have felt that her 
higher position was a grave injustice to 
them. For these, too, could claim the late 
Count William as their father. They and 
their father's daughter Beatrice, now wife 
of John van Vliet, were all proud to serve 
their more fortunate sister. And so were 
two half-brothers of Count William: Adrian, 
magistrate in Dordrecht, and William of 
Medemblik. 

Jacqueline's uncle of Liege had taken up 
his temporary abode on an estate of his 




FOKTAL -T ZUTPHEN. 
XV century. 



^be Iberitage 31 

own in Zealand in order to watch affairs in 
Holland. With his aid and that of Utrecht 
the defeat of the party in Ysselstein was 
accomplished, and the rebellious Cod nobles 
and chief burghers imprisoned. This de- 
cisive victory made Jacqueline's progress 
through the provinces possible. 

A very different law of life prevailed in 
this northern territory. It is true that there 
was still existent in Holland the scaffolding 
of a feudal state, but within this frame 
there had developed a population inter- 
ested in their own concerns, men in peasant 
smock as well as in city robes, a farm- 
ing class and a commercial burgherhood 
that recognised the prince indeed but no 
other intermediary lord. The Holland nobles 
found support neither among peasants nor 
clergy. Among the country folk old Ger- 
manic freedom was not dead. As for the 
clergy, they counted for little. In Holland 
neither prelate nor abbot had seats in the 
Estates. If the prince did not side with 
the nobles the latter had no support but 
from their own immediate retainers. 



32 a flDebi^val pdnceee 

For a time the rich cities had indeed been 
forced to submit to the nobles' arrogance, 
but fifty years of comparative peace had 
given them an opportunity of developing 
their manufactures and expanding their 
fisheries. Beukels' invention of salting fish 
had given an important impetus to com- 
merce. With growth in population, in 
wealth, and in cultivation came a demand 
for a part in national affairs. Count William 
disliked this tendency and checked it, but 
was unable to suppress it. 

The six chief cities were in North Hol- 
land. Haarlem was the most important, 
old and full of rich patricians. In Delft 
the burghers were somewhat more turbu- 
lent in nature. In Leyden they were held 
in check by the hereditary burgrave the 
Lord of Wassenaar. By the first quarter 
of the fifteenth century Amsterdam was 
already rich and populous, rivalling Rotter- 
dam in the south. In Gouda, Cod influ- 
ence was beginning to be manifest and 
Oudewater always followed Gouda's lead. 
All these towns were alive with commercial 



^be IberitaQC 33 

enterprise. True, the intervening regions 
were still wooded from stream to stream. 
From Teylingen to Haarlem there was a 
stretch of thick forest. But from city to 
city there were land and water ways, and 
these were thronged with wagons and 
boats. There was constant intercommuni- 
cation, and if the cities chose to unite their 
forces the nobles were powerless against 
them. In North Holland, there were vari- 
ous castles of the Hook nobles fortified by 
towers and moats in the neighbourhood of 
the cities. Near Haarlem began Kenne- 
merland with its small freehold farms, and 
in that particular region the nobles did not 
venture to build their strongholds. 

The peasants, fishers, and sailors in Ken- 
nemerland were like the Hook nobles in 
their devotion to the new sovereign. They 
flocked together to do homage at all 
the appointed places. On the coast there 
were Enkhuizen, Hoorn, Medemblik, and 
Monnikendam, all Hook towns except 
the first. As yet they were inconsiderable 
municipalities. 



34 H flDebia^val prlnceae 

Among the prominent noble families 
were, first and foremost, the Brederodes, de- 
scended from Jacqueline's own ancestors. 
Then, as an ancient rhyme ran, came the 
Wassenaars, the oldest, the Egmonts, the 
richest, and the Arkels, the boldest. But in 
Holland the power of the nobles at the 
best paled before that of the burghers, who 
felt their own independence even in the 
small corporations. 




CHAPTER III 

The Second Marriage 

1418 

'T'HE first acts of the young Countess in 
* Holland were marked by great severity ' 
wherever she succeeded in gaining the upper 
hand. She was, indeed, less harsh than 
some of her partisan advisers wished, but 
still executions, scourgings, and other pun- 
ishments were m.eted out with no sparing 
hand to all who had continued their oppo- 
sition to her father's party. She and her 
friends felt that radical measures were need- 
ful to establish her sovereignty. 

But it was only too evident that a girlish, 
unprotected woman could not maintain her 
authority. Jacqueline's immediate marriage 
was eminently desirable and the end of 

' Her first independent act was permission to Utrecht to destroy 
the castle of Ysselstein, the stronghold of the Cods, July 14, 141 7. — 
Van Mieris, iv., p. 401. 

35 



36 a flDebia^val Iprinceae 

July found a grand family council assem- 
bled at Biervliet to consider the question.^ 
The Hook party, the Dowager Countess 
Margaret, and John of Burgundy all united 
in urging an alliance between John of Bra- 
bant and Jacqueline. The Duke sent his 
son Philip, Count of Charolais, to represent 
him at the conference. The astute Burgun- 
dian perceived at a glance that Brabant 
would make a fine bulwark against the 
Empire, if its interests were allied to his. 
Therefore the very fact that the young pair 
were singularly ill-mated pleased him, as he 
also foresaw a probable failure of heirs and 
a future possibility of all these four pro- 
vinces passing to collateral heirs, and he was 
uncle to both Duke and Countess. 

Jacqueline's paternal uncle, that '' reverend 
father in Christ," John, Duke in Bavaria, 
Bishop-elect of Liege, was also present at 
Biervliet and gave his consent to the pro- 
jected marriage. Mezeray ^ calls this John 



' Dynter, vi., cap. 142. 

"^ Ahrege chronologique de Vhist. de France, iii., p. 171. Amster- 
dam, 1682. 




^0 



Oti.y Jobani^c-s haiuinr I 



JOHN OF BAVARIA, BISHOP-ELECT OF LIlQE. 
XVI century print. 



^be Seconb flDarriaae 37 

tiger rather than man. John the Pitiless 
was the title bestowed on him by his con- 
temporaries after a cruel and relentless 
suppression of a revolt in Liege. Barante 
is more euphemistic in describing him as 
a valiant cavalier, devoted to the profession 
of arms but without real vocation for the 
Church. His interests were not ignored in 
the incidental stipulations of the betrothal 
contract. Whenever he should be pleased 
to visit his niece, provisions for him and forty 
attendants with horses were to be furnished 
free. If he came with a larger escort he 
would have to provide for the surplus. 
*'This did not please the seigneur of Mon- 
jouw, his treasurer, who thought that such 
a lord should have free access to court, no 
matter how large was his escort, and that 
this should be stipulated."^ 

All conditions were discussed at length 
and finally on August 1, 141 7, a marriage 
contract was signed and the celebration of 
the nuptials was only postponed until papal 
dispensation for the union of first cousins 

p. 327. 



38 a flDebiaeval princeee 

could be obtained.^ If Duke John failed to 
fulfil the contract before the following Easter 
he was to forfeit 500,000 golden crowns. 
Meantime both were to do everything in 
their power to obtain the dispensation. All 
passed off well. The Burgundians had 
their own reason for being pleased, the 
bishop-elect showed no opposition and did 
homage to his niece for his private estates 
in Zealand, and the family gathering broke up 
with a fine show of brotherly and cousinly 
amity, though there was no great prospect 
of happiness for the bride in the alliance 
that had been patched up. 

Only a few weeks passed, however, and 
the bishop-elect changed his line of action. 
He declared that the continued disorders in 
his father's land were too great to be sup- 
pressed without a strong hand and that 
there was no hand better than his.^ He 
issued a proclamation saying that he had 



^ Van Mieris, iv., p. 408, etc. Jacqueline signed various other deeds 
on the same day, among which was one making more ample pro- 
vision for her mother by the donation of many estates. 

*See a series of Jacqueline's proclamations, etc. — Van Mieris, iv., 
p. 41 1 et seq. 



Zbc Seconb riDarnage 39 

come from Liege to restore peace and asked 
to be made ruward or governor in behalf 
of his niece.' 

In reply, the Countess convened an as- 
sembly of nobles and cities at Schoonhoven, 
and in their presence declared that she was 
now of age to manage her own affairs and 
needed no ruward. She stated her readi- 
ness to abide by the Biervliet convention. 
If her uncle determined to make other 
claims she would consider them with the 
advice of her Burgundian uncle and cousin.^ 

The Bishop-elect was present at Schoon- 
hoven when this answer was given. After 
hearing it he left the assembly, put him- 
self at the head of the Cod party, and 
accepted the offers of Dordrecht, the one 
city refusing homage to Jacqueline, to open 
its gates to him; then he issued letters to 
the various towns asking their allegiance. 
Troops were levied on both sides and a 
pitched battle took place in the neighbour- 
hood of Gorcum early in December. Jac- 
queline herself rode at the head of her forces, 

• Dynter, vi., cap. 145. ^ Loher, i., p. 332. 



40 a flDe&i^val iprince60 

gave her own orders, and actually scored 
a victory against her uncle. Among the 
Cod nobles who lost their lives at Gorcum 
was Jacqueline's hereditary foe, William of 
Arkel, who is said by one tradition to have 
rejected a new offer of marriage made by 
her on the very eve of this battle. It might 
have been that she had a desire to escape 
from an unattractive union, and thought of 
her father's old dream of uniting the two 
parties, as a refuge. There is, however, no 
proof that the incident occurred. Mean- 
while preparations for the other wedding 
went on. After fortifying Gorcum, Jacque- 
line returned to The Hague to await the 
results of her embassy to the Pope. 

The great council of the Church was just 
then sitting at Constance. The long schism 
was at an end, John Huss had suffered the 
penalty of his heretical utterances, the rival 
popes were deposed, and Martin V was the 
accepted head of Christendom. In his hands 
rested the power to grant a dispensation 
for the marriage of cousins, and a month 
after his election the new pope consented to 



^be Seconb flDarriacje 41 

grant the request of the envoys from Bra- 
bant. They were men well versed in me- 
dieval methods of persuasion and knew 
when to disburse the good coin they had 
carried up the Rhine. Declaring that the 
relatives of the two young people and the 
magnates of their lands assured him that 
the contemplated union would avert fright- 
ful wars, Pope Martin V signed and sealed 
the dispensation ^ on December 22, 1417, and 
the successful envoys rode triumphantly 
off to Brabant with all possible speed. 

Their haste was necessary. Among the 
large number of people then present in Con- 
stance anxious to further their own ends 
was the bishop-elect of Liege. Already he 
had travelled far from the family gathering 
at Biervliet. Not only was he desirous to 
set aside his niece's present authority but 
he was no longer minded to appear in the 
provinces in the vicarious role of guardian 
while acknowledging his ward as countess 
in her own right. That right itself he had 
now determined to dispute, and he had a 

^ Cartulaire, iv., p. 109. 



42 a flDebfeval prince06 

powerful friend at his side in the Emperor 
Sigismund, also present at Constance in 

1417. 

Now Loher^ relates that when the Em- 
peror heard of the departure of the Brabant 
envoys with the dispensation, he hastened 
to the papal presence and said: ''O holy 
Father, why is the holy council appointed 
and assembled?" 

'' My son, so that we may take- thought 
for the interests of holy Church." 

" O our Father, that we can not acknow- 
ledge." 

" Why so, dear son? " 

" Why have you half sanctioned heresy 
by giving permits without the council's 
concurrence, and thus assisted ill-doing? 
Brothers' and sisters' children must not 
unite in wedlock. It is your duty to pardon 
not to excuse sins." 

The words of these reported phrases may 
be doubted, but there is no doubt that argu- 
ments were presented to the Pope in terms 
strong enough to affect his action. Protests 

'Loher, i., p. 357. 



Zhe Seconb flDarriage 43 

against the proposed dispensation had been, 
to be sure, already in existence before De- 
cember 22nd. In September, John of Bavaria 
had made a formal declaration that the mar- 
riage of cousins german was wrong and, in 
this particular instance, was greatly to the 
prejudice of the Bishop-elect of Liege. An 
imperial endorsement of this opinion bears 
the same date. Thus Martin V certainly 
need not have rested in the complete ignor- 
ance of the other side of the question which 
he claims for himself. On January 5, 1418,^ 
he puts his signature to a revocation declar- 
ing in the preamble of the same that he is 
now better informed and that he has learned 
that the projected marriage would bring 
about scandal and bloodshed.^ Dynter says'^ 
that this dispensation was allowed to remain 
unsealed and that the document was invalid 
long after it had been received in Brabant. 
There were too many reasons why the mar- 
riage suited the Burgundian family for them 
to allow obstacles to impede the completion 

' Van Mieris, iv., p. 445. 

' Non modica scandala etiam diversa homicida. 



44 a flDebiaeval princeee 

of the matrimonial project which Monstre- 
let says^ was the work of Margaret, Jacque- 
line's mother, and in no wise the desire of 
the bride. 

At the eleventh hour another bridegroom 
was proposed who might have been much 
better suited to her taste. This was the 
second son of Henry IV of England. Out of 
the united families of Valois and Lancaster, 
no one was his equal in intellect or had 
quite as sturdy a character. On March 3, 
1418, Henry V gives instructions to William 
Sturmy and Doctor Richard Leyot to proceed 
to Holland to offer the hand of his brother 
John, Duke of Bedford, to Jacqueline.^ If 
they were not stayed before they started 
these gentlemen must have arrived in The 
Hague just before the celebration of the 

' Vol. iii., p. 20. There is, of course, no doubt that legal quibbles 
were employed and that the withdrawal of the dispensation was per- 
fectly well known, but the parties urged a technicality, inasmuch as 
papers were not sealed and that they did not receive them. " There- 
upon neither bull nor authentic vidimus was shown to my Lord of 
Brabant and still less to my Lady of Holland." — Brahantsche Yees- 
ten. There are a number of documents signed by Jacqueline during 
the first ten days of March, evidently preparatory to her marriage (see 
Cartulaire, iv. , p. 112 et passim J. 

* Proceedings of the Privy Council of England, edited by Sir Harris 
Nicolas, vol. ii., p. 241. 




JOHN, DUKE OF BEDFORD, KNEELING BEFORE ST. GEORGE. 

Bedford missal. Photo from original. 
British Museum, MS. Add., 18850. 



^be Secon& fIDarriagc 45 

other alliance rendered their mission nuga- 
tory. The proposal is not referred to in any 
way by the contemporaneous author who 
has given the most circumstantial relation 
of events passing at The Hague at the time. 
In attendance on the envoys sent from 
Brussels to The Hague in January and Feb- 
ruary to discuss the preliminary business of 
the marriage was Master Edmund de Dyn- 
ter, Duke John's secretary, as the author of 
the Brabantsche Yeesten tells us.^ He does 
not himself state that he was actually pres- 
ent at the wedding ceremony^ but it may be 
assumed that he had ample means of in- 
formation in regard to it, He tells how on 
Thursday, March 10, 141 7, according to 
French, and 1418, according to Roman style, 
just at twilight, after vesper service, the 
Duke and Duchess were married in the pal- 
ace at The Hague. ^ Master Stephen Wyart, 

^ "Heeft hertoghejan . . . xxiii., der maent janvari Gheson- 
den heerlijc aan Mier Vrouwen Ingelbrecht greve te Nassaiiwen, etc. 
Ende van Dynter meester Emonde Sinen secretaris." Brabantsche 
Yeesten, vii., ch. 62. 

2 Dynter, vi., cap. 148. It must be remembered that Dynter was 
Burgundian to the heart core, and every statement in re Jacqueline is 
a special plea for the righteousness of his patron's proceedings. See 
also Cartulaire, iv., p. 152. 



46 H flDe&ia^val lprince69 

canon from Mons in Hainaut/ received the 
exchange of vows in French. There were 
present ''Dame Margaret of Burgundy, 
mother of the said Dame Jacque, the noble 
prince, Monseigneur Adolph, Duke of Mons," 
besides a host of counts, barons, knights, 
and noble gentlemen of Brabant, Hainaut, 
Holland, and Zealand. Moreover, the cities 
were duly represented by their councillors, 
and the Duke of Burgundy by the Bishop 
of Tournay and others. The night following 
the ceremony was passed by Duke John 
with the Lady Duchess in the aforesaid cas- 
tle. Considering the number and rank of 
the witnesses, it seems extraordinary that 
''the clandestine nature of this contract"^ 
demanded absolution for the contracting par- 
ties, but such absolution was given by the 
vicegerent of the Bishop of Utrecht. More- 
over, a second ceremony was performed in 
church. 

" In the same year, and on Sunday, April 
ioth,Mhe aforesaid duke and duchess con- 

' The French translator adds ""of St. Germain." 

2 Quare de eland estino contractu. 

^ Codex Tegernseer — the date is different. Posthoc in quarta die 



JL\)c Seconb flDarriage 47 

traded and solemnised publicly with appro- 
priate words the said marriage openly in the 
collegiate church or chapel situated in the 
said castle, at the hands of the same vice- 
gerent, all due rites being observed. There 
were present the mother of the said Jacoba, 
Mme. de Hameide, Mme. de Mont Saint- 
Martin, Mme. and Mile, de Lalain, Mme. de 
Steynkerke, the demoiselle Van den Poele, 
demoiselle Van den Does, and many more 
dames and demoiselles, also Monseigneur 
Willaume Blondel, seigneur of Grevillier, 
etc., etc. 

'' It must be noted that there is a chapel 
in the aforesaid castle at The Hague to which 
is attached a formal college of secular canons 
with a deacon as head and canons as mem- 
bers, and from the earliest times one of the 
beneficiaries of the said chapel has been ac- 
customed to have charge of the souls of the 
court and of the counts of Holland when 
resident in The Hague, etc." It was, thus, 
as the Brabantine secretary emphasises, the 

aprilis celebraverunt publice nupcias in facie ecclesie — in ecclesia col- 
legiata ejusdem curie hollandie scilicet — in Hagha comitis hollandie per 
decanum. etc. 



48 H flDcMa^val princees 

suitable and official place for the marriage 
ceremony of the "said Duke and Duchess, 
who are chiefs of their curia and court, and 
the marriage was solemnised in the said 
chapel by its dean." 

Thus was Jacqueline wedded for the sec- 
ond time. The first rite, performed in 
March, caWed dandestimis contractus, seems 
yet to have been so only by a technicality. 
Certainly a goodly crowd of witnesses were 
present, and the usual formalities were ob- 
served immediately according to custom.^ 
Then the second rite in April surely was 
sufficient to counteract any deficiency in 
the first ceremony. 

With this event John of Bavaria saw the 
need of his ruwardship vanish. John of 
Brabant became governor in behalf of his 
wife. The Bishop-elect had 'neglected no 
effort to have the marriage stopped, up 
to the eleventh hour before its comple- 
tion. On March ist the Emperor, still at 
Constance, wrote as Jacqueline's overlord, 
forbidding the bans.^ In case the wedding 

^ Dynter, vi., cap, 148. ^ Ibid., cap. 153. 



Zhc Seconb fIDarriage 49 

had been celebrated, he ordered an immedi- 
ate separation of the parties and declared 
the contract null and void. Then, egged on 
by the persistent prelate, Sigismund sent 
an open letter to the cities of Holland, Zea- 
land, and Hainaut, stating that the lands had 
lapsed lawfully to the emipire at the death 
of Duke William, vassal and companion of 
the Holy Roman Empire, because he had no 
male heir.^ Therefore, he, the Emperor, had 
bestowed them on John, Count Palatine of 
the Rhine, Duke in Bavaria, his beloved 
cousin, for him and his heirs male to hold 
them of emperor and empire as fief for ever. 
Now, in spite of this gift, Jacqueline and 
John of Brabant kept possession of the lands 
to the injury thereof and against the will 
of emperor and empire. The Emperor ac- 
cordingly ordered all officials and all burghers 
to forsake their obedience to Jacqueline and 
to accept her uncle as their rightful sover- 
eign. 

The Pope, meanwhile, showed an extra- 
ordinary readiness to oblige all parties. His 

^ Van Mieris, iv., p. 477. 



50 a flDebi^val Iprlnceee 

next step in the proceedings was to grant 
John of Bavaria dispensation from his half- 
taken episcopal vows, which enabled him to 
marry Elizabeth of Gorlitz/ an act designed 
to further the uncle's claims to his niece's 
heritage. This was at Constance. Once 
over the Alps and away from imperial influ- 
ence, Pope Martin changed his tactics and 
hastened to send to John of Brabant some 
letters of credence sealed with lead, telling 
the said Duke of Brabant to give confidence 
to what two venerable masters in theology. 
Master Amand de Bremmont and Master 
Leon de Baest, had to say about the facts of 
the dispensation. The two venerable masters 
came into the Duke's presence and showed 
the papal letters, written on September 5th, 
declaring that as soon as Martin V was free 
'' from fear of the Emperor " ' he revoked the 
revocation wrested from him against his will 
in January. Duke John might be perfectly 
satisfied that Jacqueline was his legitimate 
wife. 

' She was niece to Sigismund, widow of Anthony of Brabant, and 
step-mother of John of Brabant. — Dynter, vi., cap. 155. 
2 Dynter, vi., cap. 154. Sed quam cito Alpes transient. 




z c 

< 'u 

b 

1 g 

I- o 

3 i-i 

Q 

O 

o 



^be Secon& flDarriage sr 

By the time these reassuring letters reached 
the court of Brabant, more than a twelve- 
month had elapsed since the ceremonies at 
The Hague which had defied the papal, im- 
perial, and avuncular orders then in being. 
Plenty of time if not leisure had been af- 
forded to the bride to repent a precipitate 
action which had brought her neither happi- 
ness nor prosperity. 



CHAPTER IV 
The Three Johns 

A FTERthe determined celebration of these 
^~^ nuptials, which he had tried in vain to 
hinder, John of Bavaria, as already said, had 
no further excuse for calling himself ruward 
in behalf of his unprotected niece. She now 
enjoyed the protection of a husband. But 
the ex-bishop had no wish to leave his 
brother's realm in these hands. He changed 
his line of action. As Count of Holland, 
Zealand, and Hainaut by virtue of the Em- 
peror's investiture, he proceeded to issue 
proclamations which he scattered broadcast 
over the land, offering liberal concessions to 
all people and cities who would acknowledge 
him as lawful sovereign lord.^ He even 
promised to allow the cities of Holland and 

Wan Mieris, iv., pp. 477, 478; Van Kampen's Vaderlandsche 
Karakterkunde, p. 173; Bilderdijk, iv., p. 64; Wagenaar, ii., p. 
425, et seq. ; Dynter, vi., cap. 157, etc. 

52 



^be ^bree 3oMb 53 

Zealand to convene at their own instance 
for consideration of common affairs.^ This 
is noteworthy as being the first suggestion 
of such assembly of the States as a regular 
and legal matter. To Dordrecht he offered 
several inducements, among which was the 
establishment of a mint, an especially al- 
luring bait swallowed eagerly by the city. 
Dordrecht then became the headquarters of 
the claimant whom the municipal authori- 
ties accepted as authorised by the Emperor. 
By this time Count John's episcopal preten- 
sions were wholly abandoned. Shortly af- 
terwards, a new bishop was appointed to 
the see of Liege, Elizabeth of Gorlitz was 
married to the ex-prince of the Church, and 
the worthy prelate became secular in outer 
life. 

Jacqueline and John made a formal pro- 
gress through Hainaut and Brabant, where 
their coming was duly celebrated. Then 
they put themselves in battle array to resist 
their uncle. At first their position seemed 

Wan Mieris, iv., p. 488, date June 20, 1418. Kluit, iv., p. 
360. This right of assembly seems never to have been used. Blok, 
Geschiedenis van het Nederlandsche Volk, ii., p. 121. 



54 H flDebia^val IPrinceee 

strong. In answer to the imperial candi- 
date's demands for recognition, Hainaut de- 
clared roundly that no emperor had any 
concern with the countship, which was not 
a male fief anyway, and that female succes- 
sion had always been allowed.' Holland 
and Zealand said their homage had been 
duly given to the late Count's heiress, and 
they wished that the ex-bishop would not 
put forward such strange novelties.^ 

Jacqueline did not neglect the pen as a 
weapon, even though seizing the sword. 
She made a great show as Countess of Hol- 
land, and was as lavish in her proclamations 
as was her uncle. The Groot Charterboek ^ 
preserves many, which were, however, as 
effective as summons to spirits from the 
vasty deep. In a growing uncertainty as 
to which authority would finally prevail, 
the cities displayed a tendency to disregard 
the behests of both claimants pending the 
issue of the struggle. 

In Jacqueline's behalf two small armies 

* May II, 1418, Cartulaire, iv., pp. xvii., 158. 
'Dynter, vi., cap. 157; Van Mieris, iv., p. 483. 
2 Van Mieris, iv., p. 484, etc. 



Zbc Zbvcc 3ohne 55 

were collected. At the head of one levied 
in Brabant, were Duke John and his brother 
Philip, Count of St. Pol. Jacqueline herself 
commanded the other, composed of Hainaut- 
ers, Hollanders, and Zealanders. The two 
forces marched upon Dordrecht and suc- 
ceeded in surrounding the city completely. 
The waterways were cut off or made un- 
navigable, and blockhouses of heavy wood 
were built in the neighbourhood to guard 
all approaches. The defence was, however, 
equally energetic and effective. After a siege 
of about six weeks the discouraged Brabant- 
ers withdrew, and a little later the Holland- 
ers and Zealanders followed their example, 
not without loss to themselves. A great part 
of their baggage fell into the hands of the 
Dordrechters who overthrew and destroyed 
the blockhouses erected at Papendrecht.^ 

To Jacqueline's bitter disappointment, the 
failure of the Brabanters to grant her effi- 
cient aid resulted in her definite defeat. Her 
efforts to hold her ground with her own 
people proved vain. Rotterdam soon went 

^ Dynter, vi., cap. 162; Codex Tegernseer, p. 14. 



56 a flDcMa^val princess 

over to her uncle, and other cities showed 
every disposition to follow the example. 

In October the discouraged Countess was 
forced to agree to a truce. ^ In December 
John of Brabant issued a manifesto declaring 
John of Bavaria heir to Jacqueline if she 
died without children. By this time Duke 
John of Burgundy concluded it was needful 
for him to look after his neighbours' doings, 
and he again sent his son Philip, Count of 
Charolais, as his representative, to mediate 
in the family quarrel. A conference took 
place at Woudrichem, when both the Johns, 
Jacqueline, Philip, and a hundred nobles from 
each party were present, and a treaty was 
finally signed on February 13, 1419.^ It was 
therein stipulated that John of Bavaria should 
retain what he already possessed — Dordrecht, 
with South Holland, Rotterdam, Gorcum, 
and Leerdam, besides the Arkel territories and 
all that lay between the Lek, the Linge, and 
the Merwede. All these he was to hold 

' October 27th, Van Mieris, iv., p. 501. This was for eight days. 
Another was made January i6th to last from January 20th to the fol- 
lowing Friday, p. 513. 

2 Placaat Boek, iii., p. 9. 



^be ^bree 3oMb s7 

in fee simple. In addition, he was to share 
the government of Holland, Zealand, and 
Hainaut jointly with John of Brabant for the 
space of five years. Further, he was ac- 
knowledged as heir to Jacqueline.^ An in- 
demnity of one hundred thousand gold 
nobles, English mint, was to be paid to him 
within two years as compensation for his 
renunciation of the rights conferred by the 
Emperor. It was thus made plain that he 
ruled by virtue of the treaty, and the claim 
of a lapsed fief was abandoned. The fate 
of the Egmonts was to be decided in con- 
sultation with 'Philip of Burgundy, other 
exiles were free to return, and all prisoners 
were to be exchanged without ransom 
except the senior Arkel. 

Various other documents too, were signed 
at the same time. One by the nobles pro- 
mised to accept this agreement, and another, 
by John and Jacqueline, released Dordrecht 
from all obligations to them.^ 

^ Codex Tegernseer,p. 14; Dynter, vi., cap. 164; Van Mieris, iv., 
p. 525- 

' Van Mieris, iv., pp. 525-527. Also Hist. Gemot, te Utrecht (1852), 
p. 117. 



58 H flftebia^val princeea 

By this treaty, says Bilderdijk, John of 
Bavaria became a hybrid kind of sovereign.^ 
He was count in South Holland and joint 
regent over the remainder of his niece's ter- 
ritory for a stated time. As heir presump- 
tive, his title was Son of Holland, Zealand, 
and Hainaut. 

The astute regent soon found a loophole 
through which he could crawl from his bare 
foothold into a little more assured position. 
As only 15,600 nobles out of the indemnity 
were paid down, he proposed to release his 
less clever namesake from further payment 
and give him, besides, ninety thousand gold 
crowns if the term of five years were ex- 
tended to twelve and the regency committed 
wholly to his charge. Jacqueline's husband 
accepted this proposition in behalf of his 
wife's property, and resigned the margravate 
of Antwerp and the countship of Heeren- 
thals on his own account. 

In this second deed there was a special 
reservation, on the part of the deposed sov- 
ereign's husband, that the seal of '' our dear 

^ Vaderlandsche Geschiedenis^ iv., p, 70. 



Zbc Zhvcc 3obn0 59 

and much-loved partner " (onser liever ende 
seerbemindegesellinne) ^ should not be needed 
to make it valid. It was well to provide be- 
forehand for a refusal which was inevitable. 
Why should Jacqueline consent to the aliena- 
tion of her rights ? 

But this step was not taken until April 21, 
1420. Before that Eastertide other events 
had occurred which affected the Duke and 
his wife. 

* Van Mieris, iv., pp. 545, 547. De Potter, p. 60. 



CHAPTER V 
Domestic Quarrels 

HTHE alliance planned for reasons of state 
^ brought no more domestic peace than 
public tranquillity. It was an unhappy union 
for both parties. Had John of Brabant been 
in love with and ready to yield to his energetic 
and masterful young wife, all might have 
gone smoothly. He had to be dominated 
by somebody, and she was quite capable of 
taking the helm of her husband's one state- 
let as well as of her own three. But he 
was probably bored from the beginning by 
her demands for his aid in her own realm, 
was wearied with her indignation at his fail- 
ure to give such aid effectually, and sullen 
at her exasperation about his high-handed 
yet cowardly surrender of her ancestral rights 
to her uncle. 

Dominated the young Duke was indeed, 

60 



2)omc6tic (Siuarrel0 6i 

but by Brabanters, people inimical to Hol- 
land interests in general and to Jacqueline in 
particular. His treasurer, Van der Berg, was 
especially obnoxious to the sovereign lady 
and her kin. When this man was murdered 
in his bed at Mons, dark rumours were whis- 
pered about that the Dowager Countess and 
her daughter were not wholly free from re- 
sponsibility for the crime, rumours coloured 
by the fact that the deed was undoubtedly 
directed by Jacqueline's half-brothers, who, 
however, had their own personal grudge 
against Van der Berg. No one knows the 
whole story, but it is plain that no good 
came to Jacqueline from this deed of vio- 
lence, although it freed her from the pre- 
sence of a foe. For three days her husband 
bemoaned the loss of his devoted servant 
and then turned his attention and his affec- 
tion upon the next person who flattered him. 
This chanced to be his chamberlain, Everhard 
T'serclaes. The new favourite ruled his 
master not only by force of his own will, 
but also through his young wife, Laurette 
d'Asche, who bewitched the Duke into 



62 a flDcMa^val princc60 

giving her the love and devotion never be- 
stowed on his spouse. 

John and Jacqueline w^ere indeed a singu- 
larly ill-mated couple. From the ''white 
bread weeks " on, there had been rubs be- 
tween the undisciplined young people, and 
their many quarrels culminated at Easter, 
1420, in a final rupture of the alliance which 
had been welded with a disregard of ob- 
stacles and a persistency worthy of a more 
brilliant outcome. In the court circles Ev- 
erhard and Laurette T'serclaes adopted an im- 
pertinent tone towards Jacqueline and were 
imitated by John's other sycophants, who 
saw that he did not resent disrespect dis- 
played towards his wife. One little insult 
was heaped upon another. Finally, as a 
result of the instigation of T'serclaes, John 
ordered that the whole ducal household 
should be remodelled. All Jacqueline's ladies 
and attendants, Hollanders who had been 
with her from girlhood, were dismissed, 
and in their stead were appointed Brabant 
ladies who cared nothing for her and were 
devoted to the opposing court party. And 





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JACQUELINE DE BAVIERE, 29TH SOVEREIGN OF HOLLAND, ZEALAND, AND 
FRIESLAND, COUNTESS AND LADY, TOO, OF HAINAUT. 

XVI century print and title. 



2)onie6tic ©uarrete 6 



J 



among them was Laurette T'serclaes. Dyn- 
ter^ tells how Jacqueline was at Vilvoorde 
when this decision was made. Thither rode 
the Duke and his company. Jacqueline's 
household were assembled at his order; the 
ordinance and a list of the new appointments 
were read aloud and then '' Monseigneur the 
duke mounted and rode off to Fuhr without 
another word," and without either greeting 
or taking leave of his wife. 

According to the Brabantsche Yeesten/]ust 
at that time Duke John was very restless, pre- 
ferring, perhaps, to be anywhere rather than 
in the company of his injured wife. Some- 
times he hunted in the forest of Soignies, 
occasionally he went over the Senne, some- 
times he stayed awhile at Fuhr, now he was 
at Vilvoorde, now he betook himself to Ant- 
werp. When Jacqueline was informed of 
the publication of the list she gave hasty 
orders which were promptly fulfilled, and 
flinging herself on her saddle, she galloped 
after her lord, followed by a single gentle- 
man and three demoiselles. As soon as she 

' vi., cap. 167. See also Brabantsche Yeesten, vii., ch. 80. 



64 a flDeM^val princeea 

arrived in her husband's presence, weeping 
great tears, she asked why he wanted to 
send away her ladies of high degree and 
noble blood, ladies of good life and reputa- 
tion, wise, honest, and in all respects wor- 
thy dames, and, for the most part, educated 
with her from childhood. 

Her voice rose higher and higher as she 
proceeded to reiterate the fact that she had 
been no undowered bride but an independ- 
ent heiress, and it was her right to maintain 
the state to which she was accustomed be- 
fore her marriage. 

Untouched by this outburst, John replied 
that he had his own reasons for changing 
the household and he had taken care to give 
his wife noble and worthy demoiselles of 
Brabant as attendants. More and more en- 
raged at his assumption, Jacqueline declared 
again that she did not care how noble the 
new ladies were. Her Holland dames, too, 
were noble, and, in addition, they were her 
friends from infancy, and them she would 
have. But neither arguments nor passion 
nor invective availed. The ducal household 



Domeatic (Siuarrela 65 

was arranged nominally according to the 
list, but, in spite of orders, Jacqueline per- 
sisted in retaining certain of her most valued 
friends, though all their posts were filled by 
other appointments and the salaries were 
paid to the new incumbents. 

'' From this moment conjugal love began 
to weaken and grow chill day by day until 
it was totally extinguished and forgotten, as 
will appear later," says Dynter. 

It is, after all, a tale of the pettiest kind 
of domestic bickering, at least as it is related 
by chroniclers and poets. The atmosphere 
was thickly clouded in the early spring 
of 1420 and relations were strained. The 
court was then at Brussels.^ The custom 
there was for the courtiers to assemble at 
two formal meals daily, while bread, wine, 
and light refreshments were served in their 
private apartments in the early morning and 
in the evening. Now, when it became ap- 
parent that Jacqueline was determined to 
retain her Holland favourites in spite of 
ducal behests, T'serclaes resolved not only 

' Dynter, vi., cap. 167. 



66 a fBiebia^val iprincess 

to make it unpleasant for them, which he 
and his friends were doing diligently, but, 
as insults attained no result, further to resort 
to the petty expedient of starving the ladies 
out. 

The refreshments sent to the Hollanders' 
rooms became more and more scanty until 
the supply ceased entirely. All that the 
ladies consumed outside of the dining-room 
they were obliged to provide for themselves. 
Complaints helped nothing and soon T'ser- 
claes pushed matters to still greater extrem- 
ity. On Easter, April 7, 1420, there was a 
great festal dinner. The chamberlain or- 
dered the servants to ignore the Holland 
ladies as though they were not seated at 
the table. The orders were strictly obeyed. 
While the whole court of Brabant feasted 
gaily on Easter delicacies, while Jacqueline 
and her Brabant dames were served with the 
best, the Holland ladies sat hungry before 
empty plates and were the laughing-stock of 
the remaining guests, until they left the ban- 
quet in tears. It happened at this time that 
the Dowager Margaret came to Brussels and 



Domeetic (Sluarrele 67 

stayed at an inn, the Mirror, in the rue de la 
Montagne. Naturally this scandal was re- 
ported to her. Straightway she hastened to 
the palace to upbraid her son-in-law. Her 
angry reproaches did not move him. She 
left the palace and returned to her hostelry, 
whither her daughter followed her. No 
carriage was at the service of the Duchess of 
Brabant. It was on foot, weeping, attended 
by one faithful servant, Jan Rasoir, that the 
miserable Jacqueline sought her mother's 
inn. On the following morning the two 
ladies shook off the dust of Brabant and went 
to Hainaut, the only one of her provinces 
on whose faithfulness the poor, despised 
Countess of Holland, the neglected wife of 
the Duke of Brabant, could still count.^ 

Coincident with the course of this court 
and family scandal, ran the further negotia- 
tions between the ex-bishop of Liege and 
John of Brabant, which resulted in the ces- 
sion to her uncle of Jacqueline's sovereignty 
over her territories for the space of twelve 
years. This last and most injurious treaty^ 

' Dynter, vi., cap. 172. 2 y^j^ Mieris, iv., p. 545. 



68 H fIDebiaeval prlnceea 

bears the date of April 21, 1420, a few days 
after Easter. As mentioned before, among 
the articles was one expressly providing that 
the stipulated conditions should be fulfilled, 
and *'our dear uncle" should not be dis- 
appointed even if the seal of the Duchess 
of Brabant failed to appear on the parch- 
ment. 

That is not all. The time appointed for 
the fulfilment of the compact was St. James's 
Day of the current year, and another pledge 
was given by John of Brabant in regard to it. 
The uncle was evidently a little sceptical as 
to the consent of his niece to the nefarious 
transaction, and took pains to assure some 
compensation for himself in case he were 
deprived of the security of her formal con- 
sent to being deposed. In a document of 
April 22nd, John promises to pay his uncle 
26,000 crowns, if Jacqueline's signature were 
not obtained before July 25th. ^ Some of 
Jacqueline's biographers consider that this 
date, her own birthday, was an added insult 
to the proposed alienation of her count- 

Wan Mieris, iv., p. 547. De Potter, p. 61. 



Domeetic ©uarrela 



69 



ships — a piece of fantasy that may go for 
what it be worth. Without any refinement 
of cruelty there had certainly been sufficient 
cause to justify Jacqueline in her revolt 
against marital authority when she fled 
away to Hainaut. 




CHAPTER VI 
Refuge in Hainaut 

'X'HE cities of Hainaut, especially Mons 
^ and Valenciennes, possess carefully 
kept records of their expenditures, and out 
of these items much information can be 
culled respecting Jacqueline's movements 
and her ways of life, especially during the 
months that followed her departure from 
Brabant, a period that she spent in company 
with her mother in her various castles. 
There is much, too, to indicate how closely 
her earlier life was identified with Hainaut. 

Just before her marriage she founded a 
little chapel at Bouchain, where a daily mass 
was celebrated for the repose of her father's 
soul.^ This was in February, 1418, the same 
month when other records show her care to 
endow her mother with such estates* as lay 

' Van Mieris, iv., p. 459. Cartulaire, iv., p. 1 14. 
70 



IRefuge in Ibalnaut 71 

in her gift, several within the Hainaut terri- 
tory. In Jacqueline's case the usual routine 
of anti-nuptial settlements had been re- 
versed, the bride being donor instead of 
recipient. 

But it was not only in token of filial respect 
that Jacqueline made gifts whose records 
appear in the account books. She was evi- 
dently generous. We find traces of many 
presents, great and small, bestowed right 
and left. Here a pension is given to min- 
strels who had brought ''much content to 
my Lady of Hainaut "; there, four priests of 
Quesnoy and the school-master, ''who sing 
vespers and masses in the dwelling of my 
Lady," are invited to sup after vespers and to 
dine on the morrow. The Burgundian his- 
torian makes her defy her husband for the 
sake of her Holland court ladies, and there 
are many proofs of her care for her humbler 
attendants. Remembering all the agreeable 
services performed for her by Agnes Rou- 
lette, her foster-sister, she renders her 
marriage to Pierart Willesme easier by the 
settlement of a pension of sixty-five pounds 



12 a flDcM^val lprlnce69 

tournois. This was to fall due on April 
I St, and the receipts of the annual payments 
are duly chronicled.^ 

There were christenings as well as wed- 
dings, which she honoured with her gifts. 
An infant, Marie de Harpre, receives from 
her a bowl of white silver costing seven 
pounds ten shillings, and the godmother 
does not forget nurse and priests. 

To mention all her beneficiaries would fill 
many pages. It is only worth noting how 
often some adjective has crept into the dry 
entry, which shows the giver's personal in- 
terest in her proteges. 

The accounts of this year also suggest 
little pictures of her surroundings. Evi- 
dently the castle of Quesnoy was furbished 
up. One Jehan, a Florentine, living at 
Valenciennes, cleans the Duchess's white 
chamber, ''the one that is hung with tapes- 
try wrought with peacocks, and with figures 
of maidens playing on the harp." The tap- 
estry was in a bad condition and had to be 
relined with Burgundy cloth. In addition, 

' De Potter, p. 8i ^/ seq. 



IRefuge in Ibainaut iz 

Jehan cleaned another chamber and a green 
room, one hung with hunting scenes, and 
the other with representations of the battle 
of Jerusalem. 

Evident it is that Jacqueline had a taste 
for pomp and luxury. In the last journey 
made with her husband, just before that 
fatal Easter, their whole expenses at Mons, 
March i8th-26th, amounted to ^854 115. 
M. Her own household consisted of a long 
retinue of attendants, among whom we find 
mentioned a guardian of '' the white dogs." 
This was an office of great consideration, 
apparently, for its incumbent received a 
salary of two hundred pounds, a good in- 
come in comparison to the thirty pounds 
of a private secretary. 

Jacqueline did not retire to private life 
after she had thrown off marital authority. 
The traditional nine points of the law were 
in her uncle's favour in the north, and her 
armed invasion of Holland accomplished 
nothing in dislodging him. In the south, 
however, she was in possession, and as 
sovereign Countess she convened the Es- 



74 a flDebia^val princeee 

tates of Hainaut in July. The first act of 
the deputies was to send envoys to Brabant 
to try to effect a reconciliation between the 
divided pair. The Duke's statement was 
emphatic: ''Nothing in the world do 1 
desire more than the return of my wife to 
my roof." It was, however, the last thing 
that Jacqueline desired or intended, and so 
she roundly declared. Other negotiations 
followed respecting her dower right, her 
maintenance, etc., and the months passed 
by without the breach being healed. 

In Brabant affairs were in a very bad way. 
Brussels arose in open rebellion against her 
Duke's authority, and finally came out best 
in the struggle. The Estates were divided 
against themselves, and the distrust of the 
Duke's capacity was so great that his 
brother, the Count of St. Pol, was appointed 
ruward for the time being. It was not until 
the early months of 142 1 that John was again 
master in Brabant. This was after Jacque- 
line and her mother had appeared in person 
before the Brabant Estates to urge their 
own claim. But all that is another story, 



IRefuQC in Ibainaut 75 

and belongs to the heritage of the Duke, 
not to the flight of the Duchess. 

Jacqueline at last determined to take her 
affairs completely into her own hands. She 
declared that her conscience had always 
been uneasy about the legality of her mar- 
riage, and now she was convinced that it had 
not been crowned by the blessing of Heaven. 
Never had she seen John of Brabant cross 
the threshold of her room without trem- 
bling like an aspen leaf, fearing that she was 
committing mortal sin. So she declared, 
and so, perhaps, she believed, after the 
same John had alienated her paternal herit- 
age, deprived her of the companions of her 
youth, and treated her with personal indig- 
nity. She called wise men into her counsel 
and laid the matter before them. They 
needed no occult power to interpret the bias 
of her wishes; and while they did not act- 
ually consent to the proposition that the 
marriage was null and void, they also failed 
to assert its unquestioned validity. Jacque- 
line found no difficulty in having her brief 
made out in due form to lay before the Es- 



76 H flDeM^val princeas 

tates of Hainaut when they convened Feb- 
ruary 19, 1 42 1. The gist of her statement 
was simple, and showed four reasons why 
the union between Duke and Countess was 
invalid: 

1. They were the children of a brother 
and sister, thus cousins in the first degree. 

2. Jacqueline's first husband, John of Tou- 
raine, was a blood relation of John of Brabant. 

3. The Dowager Countess Margaret was 
godmother to John of Brabant, and thus he 
and Jacqueline were spiritual brother and 
sister. 

4. At the moment when they were united 
in marriage the force of the first papal dis- 
pensation was annulled by the papal revoca- 
tion. 

Jacqueline prayed that the Estates should 
have the matter investigated anew, and de- 
clared that her conscience forbade her return 
to her husband without a new papal dispen- 
sation. 

The Estates did not know what to do. 
Their first step was to despatch an embassy 
composed of nobles, citizens, and clergy to 



IRefuge in Ibainaut n 

Duke John, to inform him of his wife's suit, 
and another to Philip, now Duke of Bur- 
gundy, as he had succeeded his father, John, 
after the latter's murder by the Dauphin on 
the bridge at Montereau, in 1419. Young, 
ambitious, domineering, Philip was quite 
determined to gain control over as much of 
the world that was before him as possible, 
and was vitally interested in all that went 
on in his cousin's domains. 

''On Sunday, March 2nd, there departed 
from Mons, Jaquemars Baudon, sheriff . . . 
with escort and with certain gentlemen from 
among the prelates and nobles . . . toMon- 
seigneur of Burgundy, whom they found at 
Ghent," to inform him ''respecting the dif- 
ference between our very excellent lord and 
lady of Brabant on account of their marriage. 
The said Monseigneur of Burgundy gave a 
very gracious and courteous response, say- 
ing that on a certain day he would be at 
Brussels, and they might send envoys to 
him there about this matter."^ 

Philip's intervention was something that 

' De Potter, p. 88. 



78 a flDebia^val princeee 

Jacqueline was afraid of. Rumours came to 
her ear that her powerful cousin would not 
leave Brussels until he held in his hand a 
net to entrap Brabant and Hainaut, just as 
her other kinsman had acquired Holland 
and Zealand. It might be his intention to 
snare her too within that same net under 
the guise of personal protection. 

This time Jacqueline determined that no 
one, not even her mother, should select a 
protecting guardian for her. She was allied 
to other princes besides those of the House 
of Burgundy and Holland. Through Phi- 
lippa of Hainaut, ^ Henry of Lancaster was 
also her kinsman, and to him she now 
decided to appeal. 

Chastellain tells in pretty, though perhaps 
imaginative language, how one Robessart, 
seigneur of Escaillon, English at heart, filled 
his lady with enthusiasm for England, where 
he had spent much time. There she would 
find gallant gentlemen ready to espouse the 
just cause of an oppressed dame.^ When 

' She is the Queen for whom Queen's College, Oxford, was named. 
■ Chronique, i,, chap. 71. See also Monstrelet, iv., livre i., chap. 
236. 





HENRY V. 



IRefuge in Ibalnaut 79 

she finally told him, of her own accord, 
that she was resolved to seek refuge in the 
court of Henry V, ''he was not at all angry, 
but very joyous," ^ and at once thought out 
ways and means of preparing for this adven- 
turous departure. She already had in her 
possession a passport signed by Henry V, 
permitting her and the Dowager Margaret 
to pass through the English lines in France on 
their way to Ponthieu, where she possessed 
some dower estates. That would give her 
entry into Calais.^ In this document only 
Jacqueline's hereditary titles are used. There 
is no mention of the '' Duchess of Brabant," 
a name she had resolved to discard for ever. 

There may have been some rumour afloat 
of Philip's immediate designs against her 
personal liberty that led Jacqueline to hasty 
and secret flight. 

One of the last acts of the Countess in 
*'our city of Valenciennes" in 142 1 was to 
order ''our dear and loyal councillor Guil- 
laume du Cambge," receiver of Hainaut, " to 

' // n'etait pas courrouce mats tres jqyeux. 
2 See Rymer's Fcedera, x., p. 67. 




8o a flDcMa^val princeee 

give our dear varlet, our harper Jehan, in 
recompense for the agreeable services he 
has rendered us, the sum of 12 crowns in 
gold, to enable him to make a journey to 
St. James in Galicia."^ Could this pilgrim- 
age have had the real end of obtaining good 
auspices for the harper's mistress in her new 
enterprise? Perhaps. St. James was her 
own patron. A few days later and Jacque- 
line took leave of the Dowager for a short 
visit to Bouchain, praying her to be content 
that ** she abandoned her for a night or two. 
On the morrow or the third day at the latest " 
she would return without fail to her mother.^ 
Once out of the gates of Valenciennes, she 
met Escaillon with sixty horse; under this 
escort she rode at the top of her speed 
toward Calais. One night they spent on 
the way. Rising very early on the morrow 
they journeyed on to Calais, where the lady 
and her suite were most honourably received, 
the English officers evidently having been 
forewarned of the coming of the fugitive. 

^Bulletin de la Commission toy ale d'histoire, 2? serie, vii., p. 
352. Also De Potter, p. 84. 
^Chastellain, i., p. 214. 



IRefuge in Ibainaut 8i 

At Calais she waited while a messenger 
crossed the Channel to ask the English king 
his pleasure. During his short absence, Jac- 
queline mounted often on the walls of the 
fortifications and strained her eyes to see 
whether her envoys were yet in sight. 
''She could just discern," says Chastellain, 
''the white cliffs of England." At last she 
spies a sail set to the wind, and within the 
bark sit the messenger, Gerard de Poelgeest, 
and his two comrades. Gerard was a Hol- 
lander, a faithful Hook, and devoted to his 
dispossessed sovereign. 

It was a hospitable message of proffered 
welcome sent back by Henry V, and Jac- 
queline did not delay in accepting the invi- 
tation, or rather gracious permission, to make 
England her home till her fortunes mended. 
She set out at once on "a journey neither 
profitable nor worthy either for the lady or 
her adviser Escaillon. As you will think," 
adds Chastellain, " when you know what a 
dire and mortal war resulted by which she 
was expelled from her heritage and exposed 
to the hardship of a contrary fortune nearly 



82 a flDeMa^val princeae 

all the course of her life." Her fortunes 
could hardly have been more contrary than 
at the moment when she crossed the Chan- 
nel, and it was full of hopes that the tide 
might turn that she sailed to the white cliffs 
and found the King's brother, Humphrey, 
Duke of Gloucester, ''who had never yet 
wedded a wife," waiting at Dover to es- 
cort her to his brother's court. Jacqueline 
mounted the palfrey thoughtfully provided 
by Humphrey, and they set off for London, 
which they reached at an early hour on the 
following day. '' Humphrey conducted her 
to the King, who received her most gra- 
ciously, and paid her such honour and favour 
as befitted a grand princess, former dauphin- 
ess of Vienne, and one who might have been 
Queen of France."^ 

After the insults of the Brussels court it 
must have been pleasant to come to a place 
where her past dignities were remembered. 
Probably Henry V, with his continental 
ambitions, also took into consideration the 
value of his guest's hereditary lands as a 

' Chastellain, i., p. 217. 



IRefuge In Ibainaut 83 

bulwark to the English in France. As an 
international balance of power the Countess 
of Holland and Hainaut might be a conven- 
ient ally. So for the present moment the 
prudent king was glad not only to recognise 
her kinship, but to provide for her immedi- 
ate needs, in the hope of future rewards for 
his hospitality. 



CHAPTER VII 

Jacqueline in England 

1421-1424 

''/^N Saturday March 8th, came tidings 
^^ to Mons at about dinner time that 
our very excellent Lady had departed from 
Valenciennes on the previous Thursday and 
had gone to sleep at Bouchain and on the 
morrov/ had departed thence to go, so they 
say, to Calais, and that she was there on 
Saturday March 8th." ^ 

Thus reads the record of the flight of the 
Duchess as it stands in the register of her 
ancient capital. One biographer, Cocqueau, 
writes^ that Jacqueline's intention to flee 
to England appears ''from the letter of Mar- 
garet her mother advising messieurs that 

^ Premier registre des consaux de Mons. Cartulaire, iv., p. 271. 

^ Beitrdge, p. 46. Cocqueau finished his Chronique de Valen- 
ciennes in 1578, having had access in Hainaut to many records which 
are now lost. 

84 



3acqueUne in lEnglanb 85 

her daughter had departed on March vi to 
go to some destination which she would 
announce later— by the letter of the Duke 
of Burgundy saying he had heard of the 
said departure, and would give his aid to 
the Duke of Brabant in regard to it, and 
would discuss matters with his aunt, — from 
the fact that the Duke [of Brabant] sent 
deputies to Valenciennes to consider this 
affair, and to command them to retain the 
possessions of his wife which she had sent 
for from England — and from the requests of 
her mother begging protection— and from 
Jacqueline herself, writing from Calais, or- 
dering her property to be forwarded to her." 
It was the Dowager Margaret who had to 
meet the dukes of Burgundy and Brabant 
and the corporations of Jacqueline's towns 
to discuss with them this last action of her 
headstrong daughter. She could do little 
but show ''certain letters" declaring in no 
uncertain terms that Jacqueline was fully de- 
termined never to return to ''the obedience 
of John of Brabant." Moreover, rumours that 
the English king's brother, Humphrey of 



86 H flDebia^val iprinceee 

Gloucester, was the magnet attracting the 
Countess to England were soon current in 
Brabant, in Holland, and in Flanders. There 
is no actual record that the two had ever 
seen each other before Jacqueline's arrival in 
Dover. Yet the fact of a previous meeting 
is quite possible. Humphrey took a part in 
public affairs from the time of his leaving 
Oxford, and went abroad from time to time 
on errands of diplomacy, of ceremony, or of 
war. He it was who rode his horse into 
the water to greet the Emperor when he 
visited England in 1416, and to receive as- 
surance, before he set foot on English soil, 
that he cherished no ulterior purpose of im- 
perial suzerainty over the island. As an extra 
courtesy Gloucester, too, speeded this parting 
guest by escorting him as far as Dordrecht. 
On his own return journey the Duke may 
have paused to pay his respects to the Count 
of Holland. The latter had recently left Eng- 
land in some dudgeon, but his quarrel was 
not with the King, and not long afterwards 
the Duke of Bedford was proposed as Jac- 
queline's husband. 




h ^ 

w .2 

lit 

uj . 5 

t_ CA! C 
Q S > 



3acquellne in lEnglanb 87 

When Jacqueline's reception at the Eng- 
lish court was reported abroad, messengers 
were speedily despatched from the two 
Johns and from Philip of Burgundy to Henry 
V, demanding the return of the fugitive. 
The Duke of Burgundy was especially furi- 
ous at this event, and there were several 
reasons for his anger. Humphrey had been 
a candidate for the hand of Philip's sister, 
Anne of Burgundy, and the suggestion that 
he was turning his thoughts to another bride 
and one whose divorce was simply pending, 
not decided, was an insult to the Burgun- 
dian family. Moreover, Philip was fully in- 
tending to be heir to all his kinsfolk in 
Holland, in Hainaut, and in Brabant. At this 
epoch John of Bavaria was undoubtedly de 
facto sovereign count in Holland and Zea- 
land; but it must be remembered that his 
style was still Ruward in behalf of his niece, 
and Son of Holland as her heir presump- 
tive. But he himself had no heir, and in the 
eyes of his cousin of Burgundy he was, like 
John of Brabant, merely a temporary incum- 
bent of Philip's own future territories. A new 



88 H fiDe^iaeval princeee 

question would arise, however, if the real 
heiress were to take a new husband, whose 
possible descendants might prove a block in 
Philip's progress towards her portion of the 
fair heritage adjacent to his present lands. 
Moreover, the Duke was an ally of England, 
an alliance that suited him more than pass- 
ing well, and he did not wish to be forced 
to break it on account of a foolish escapade 
of his cousin of Hainaut and because of her 
plaints about her father's lands, which were 
very well off under the guidance of her 
uncle and heir. 

Perhaps it was Philip's vehement protest 
that led Henry V to keep Humphrey and 
Jacqueline apart for a time until their path 
was smoothed a bit. At any rate, Jacque- 
line had been in England but a few weeks 
when the Duke of Gloucester was ordered 
to France, where there was plenty of work 
awaiting the English, if they were to make 
good the claims of Henry V to be heir to 
his father-in-law, Charles VI, in lieu of the 
latter's son, who had been formally disin- 
herited by the Treaty of Troyes, 1420. The 



Jacqueline in finglanb 89 

Dauphin's party had no idea of accepting 
his disinheritance, and were fighting the 
English troops with all the forces that could 
be collected, while the invaders were spar- 
ing neither money nor blood. Among the 
slain at the battle of Bauge in the spring of 
1421 was the Duke of Clarence, third son to 
Henry IV. At the time of Jacqueline's ar- 
rival in England, Henry V was straining 
every nerve to prepare for a campaign in 
France which should avenge his brother's 
death and strengthen his own position — 
untenable, in truth, on any ground of equity. 

May 27th is the date of Duke Humphrey's 
passport, and probably also that of his leav- 
ing England. Two weeks later Henry fol- 
lowed him across the channel. 

On June loth, the very day of his own 
departure, the King executed several acts. 
One,^ 'Mn behalf of the Countess of Hai- 
naut," provided for the release of John Bloun- 

' Rymer, Fcedera, x., p. 129. Henry made other personal prepara- 
tions at Dover just before setting sail, as the codicil to his will shows: 
*' I have made this Will be myself and writen hit in hast with myen 
owen hand, thus enterlynet and blotted as hit is, the IX day of June 
ye yere of oure Lord MCCCCXXI and of my regne ye IX." See also 
Troceedings of Privy Council, etc., iii., p. x. 



90 a flDe&ia^val iprincesa 

dell, knight of Hainaut, prisoner in the Tower 
of London. This is issued at Dover by the 
King himself/ Nor did Henry's kindness 
toward his guest cease with his absence. 
Jacqueline remained in England with Henry's 
queen, a sister-in-law of her own infant mar- 
riage — that Catherine of France whose woo- 
ing by the English King is so charmingly 
suggested by Shakespeare. Perhaps it was 
her intercession that procured the next fa- 
vour for her guest, granted by Henry's order, 
which is recorded in Rymer.^ It is a pro- 
vision of ;^ 1 00 a month for Dame Jake 
Duchesse de Holand so long as she sojourns 
in England. This was to be taken from the 
revenues of Joan, late Queen of England. 
The document is dated at Westminster and 
given under the royal seal, though of course 
in the King's absence. 

The sum is very liberal for the time. It 
was certainly needed by Jacqueline, as her 
desired property had not been sent after her 
according to her request. Of returning she 

' Gesta Henrici Quinti, p. i ^3. Apud Dovorriam,per tpsum Regent. 
' Rymer, x., p. 1 34. See also order in Council, July 8th. Proceed- 
ings and Ordinances of the Privy Council, ii., p. 291. 



Jacqueline in jenglanb 91 

had no thought. Nor did she recognise a 
marital tie as existing any longer between 
her and John of Brabant. At her orders, 
declarations that the marriage was null and 
void had been posted on the doors of the 
chief churches in Hainaut and in Holland. 
Undoubtedly the great inducement to Eng- 
land to further Jacqueline's alliance with the 
King's brother was the hope of annexing 
her domains to the other continental ac- 
quisitions of the royal family. Her affairs 
were made a matter of national importance. 
And such they became, for she promised to 
give Humphrey her lands as a marriage gift, 
conthoralem.^ 

This was a point that aroused Philip's 
righteous indignation. ''What! should a 
woman be allowed to alienate her realm 
from her own kin ? Nay, it behooved her 
natural guardians to prevent such a step." 

In December, at Windsor, was born the 
sixth Henry, the Englishman who was to 
ally the title of King of France to that of 
England, according to the promise wrung 

' Gesta Henrice Quinti, p. 154. 



92 a flftebteval iprinceee 

from the insane French monarch by Henry 
of Lancaster. 

''And about this time word came to the 
king through trusty messengers of the birth 
of his son Henry VI whom the queen had 
borne on the feast of St. Nicholas in Eng- 
land at Windsor." 

''And his name was given him Henry," 
says Stow, "for there received him at the 
font John, Duke of Bedford his uncle Lord 
Warden of England and Henry the king's 
uncle. Bishop of Winchester, and Jaquelyn 
Duchesse of Holland that remained then in 
England."^ Thus Jacqueline was honoured 
by an invitation to hold the baby prince at 
the font, the baby whose royalty was de- 
stined to be of as little advantage to him as 
were her many titles to his godmother. 

Meanwhile the Duke of Burgundy stead- 
fastly refused to acknowledge the slightest 
legality in the writs of divorce that Jacque- 
line had had affixed to the church doors. 
Duchess of Brabant she was and Duchess 
she should remain. In the face of his oppo- 

^ Chronicle, p. 361. 



3acgueline In lenglanb 93 

sition, Henry V continued firm in his re- 
fusal to allow any marriage with his brother 
to take place. But Fate removed him from 
the scene. The France which he was hop- 
ing to make a British province furnished a 
death-bed to the ambitious, energetic war- 
rior king. In August, 1422, an illness seized 
him, and he succumbed to it in the woods 
of Vincennes, leaving his nine-months-old 
son as heir to both realms. At that moment 
Humphrey of Gloucester was warden of 
England, as the Duke of Bedford had es- 
corted Queen Catherine over to France to 
see her husband. The guardianship of the 
King's person and the regency of the two 
kingdoms were henceforth divided between 
Bedford, Gloucester, and their uncle of 
Winchester, the exact division of responsi- 
bility and of powers varying with circum- 
stances.^ Humphrey, left for the moment 
to his own devices, determined to consider 
Jacqueline as duly freed from her obnoxious 
marriage-bond by virtue of the public no- 
tices. There is a tradition, which Wagenaar 

' Proceedings of the Privy Council, vol. iii., et passim. 



94 a flDebiaeval iprinceee 

does not hesitate to adopt, that, weary of 
receiving no decisive answer from Martin 
V, Jacqueline turned for aid to the anti- 
Pope, Benedict XIII (Pedro da Luna), ac- 
knowledged by no country but Spain, and 
from him obtained a formal nullification of 
the Brabant marriage.^ No contemporary 
author mentions this statement and there 
is little probability of its truth. As neither 
England nor Hainaut recognised the claims 
of this Pope, it is hardly probable that any 
one would venture to urge the validity of 
his word over and above the authority of 
Martin V, whom they did recognise. Dyn- 
ter says : ''The Duchess Jacqueline made a 
matrimonial alliance de facto with the illus- 
trious prince Lord Humphrey, the Duke of 
Gloucester, the brother of the English king, 
without waiting for the judgment of the 
Church, whence arose many inconven- 
iences."^ The exact date of the celebration 

^ Beitrage, p. 49 ; De Potter, p. 96 ; Wagenaar, iii., p. 453. 

^vi., cap. 192: " judicio ecclesie non expectato — unde multa in- 
conveniencia.^' Dynter also says, '* sine medio ecclesice." In the 
records of the Paris trial it is stated " contraxerunt ad invicem matri- 
monium secundum morem ecclesice." Beitrdge, p. 50. 

In the Tegernseer MS. there is a statement that the nuptials were 



Jacqueline in finglanb 95 

of the marriage does not appear. Jacqueline 
writes to the Estates of Hainaut from Hard- 
fort en Engleterre, ordering them to convene 
on September 26, 1422/ There is no men- 
tion here of a new title for her, nor is there 
in the warrant for the payment of /loo to 
the Duchess of Holland, December 20th of 
the same year (1422). That the news of 
her alliance first leaked out instead of being 
formally announced may be inferred from 
the tale told in the minutes of the council 
sitting at Mons in October, 1422: 

"On Sunday 25 day of October, 1422, re- 
turned from the city of Hal before dinner 
Simons li Douls, Gilles Poules sheriffs [and 
others]^ and this day after dinner was the 
council assembled in the government house. 
There were present 36 persons. In the pre- 
sence of the above was related by the mouth 
of Andriu Puche all that had passed with M. 

celebrated regally in England without the consent of King Henry. 
Quihus nupciis regaliter in anglia celehratis licet fuit prceter con- 
sen sum heinrici regis anglie. Beitrdge, p. 16. 

^ Cartulaire, iv., p. 310; Minutes of Council, Proceedings, etc., 
p. II. 

^ Here follow the names of the deputies from the various places. 
Cartulaire, etc., iv., p. 317. 



96 a flDe&feval prlnce90 

of Brabant and his council at the meeting at 
Valenciennes on the affairs already noted, 
etc. . . . There was also speech of the 
news come to Monsieur of Brabant that our 
very redoubtable lady was remarried to the 
Duke of Gloucester, brother of the King of 
England, lately dead and of the report that 
the said lady is already enchainte de vif enfant 
and wishes to come to Quesnoy for her con- 
finement and expects 6000 archers to accom- 
pany her." 

In a petition presented to Humphrey by 
Jacqueline's old friend, Robessart, on March 
7, 1423, he is addressed as ''Duo de Gloii- 
cestre, Comte de Hanau, Hollande, and Zeel- 
lande, etc.''^ 

In February, however, the rumour became 
certainty in Hainaut. On Tuesday, Febru- 
ary 9th, the three Estates were ordered to 
assemble, ''because on Thursday Feb. i ith, 
our very revered hereditary lady wished 
that announcement should be made of the 
state of marriage of her, our said lady, with 
the Duke of Gloucester."^ 

' Rymer's Fxdera, x., p. 279. ^Cartulaire, etc., iv., p. 328. 



Jacqueline in lEnQlanb 97 

Duke Humphrey of Gloucester is a pic- 
turesque figure in the various places where 
he crosses the pages of history and fiction. 
He was markedly less able than John, Duke 
of Bedford, the former pretendant for Jac- 
queline's hand. The two brothers, indeed, 
seem to have developed the different sides 
of their father's character.^ Humphrey has 
the adventurous spirit, the popular manner, 
and ambition ; John has all the seriousness, 
the statesmanship, the steady purpose, the 
high sense of public duty that in a lower de- 
gree belonged to his father. Bedford, again, 
has all the great qualities of Henry V with- 
out his brilliancy ; Gloucester has all his 
popular characteristics without any of his 
greatness. The former was thoroughly 
trusted by Henry V: the latter was trusted 
only so far as it was necessary. 

Humphrey had a keen interest in the learn- 
ing of the day, and was early known as the 
patron of letters. The poet Lydgate says : 

"Due of Gloucester men this prince call; 
And notwithstanding his state and dignite, 

'Stubbs, Constitutional History, iii., p. 97. 



98 H flDebia^val prlnceea 

His corage never doth appalle 

To studie in books of antiquite; 

Therein he hath so great felicite 

Vertuously himself to occupie, 

Of vinous slouth to have the maistrie." 

He it was who '' magnified " the University 
of Oxford '' with a thousand pounds worth 
and more of precious bokes." There were 
one hundred and twenty-nine volumes in 
the gift sent by Humphrey to the new li- 
brary over the Divinity School, whose build- 
ing he aided, and which still bears the name 
of Duke Humphrey's Library. A letter was 
despatched to the House of Commons ask- 
ing them ''to considere the gloriose gift of 
the graciose prince — to thanke hym herte- 
tyly and also prey Godde to thank hym in 
tyme coming when goode dedys ben re- 
warded."^ Some manuscripts once pos- 
sessed by him are also to be found in Paris. 
The motto placed in his books was Moun 
bien mondaine. '' Hearne in his esteem for 
this religious, good and learned Prince 
quaintly says that he used, whenever he 

^Annals of the Bodleian Library, W. D. Macray, p. 6. 



Jacqueline in lEnglanb 99 

saw his handwriting in the Bodleian Library/ 
to show a particular sort of respect for it." 

Humphrey's connection with the Oxford 
library was, however, some years later than 
his alliance with Jacqueline. In the years 
of his regency his whole attention was de- 
manded by other than literary matters. At 
home there were the affairs of the minor 
king, while Jacqueline's heritage was a 
tempting bait enticing him to the continent. 
The idea of acquiring an independent realm 
for himself was, naturally, attractive to the 
cadet of a royal house, even though he had 
shown all zeal in serving the interests of his 
brother and nephew. 

In spite of the irregular character of the 
divorce Jacqueline was acknowledged as 
Duchess of Gloucester without question in 
England and received as a member of the 
royal family. 

In the abbey of St. Albans was a certain 
unknown monk who from 1420 to 143 1 jotted 
down daily memoranda on various events 
which came to his notice or whose echoes 

L. or w. 1 ^fjfjals of the Bodleian Library, p. 6. 



loo a flDcMa^Ml prince60 

chanced to penetrate his seclusion. He tells 
in quaint ungrammatical Latin how Duke 
Humphrey with his wife, Domina Jacoha 
Ducessa Holandice, attended by a train of 
three hundred followers, partly English and 
partly Teutons, came to St. Albans for the 
Christmas holidays.^ ''Teutons " probably 
means the Dutch and other Netherlanders 
who had drifted into Jacqueline's service. 
The abbot was just then abroad at the 
Council of Pavia, and the honours of the 
house were done by the prior, who received 
the guests with a solemn procession on 
Christmas Eve. Perhaps his hand was less 
strong to maintain order in the abbey's ju- 
risdiction for there was much lawlessness, 
unruliness, and poaching in the neighbour- 
hood during this visit, chiefly on the part of 
the Duke's retainers. The impetuous Hum- 
phrey determined to make an example of 
one of his servants who was among the cul- 
prits. He had the man placed in the stocks, 

' His chronicle is printed with that of Amundesham : Annales Mon- 
asterie S. Alhani, Henry Thomas Riley, editor, Roll series, p. 4; see 
a.\so Journ. Brit. Arch., 1871. The abbey of St. Albans was at the 
end of the first day's journey from London on the great north road. 









f 




w. 


bfci^/ 



DUKE HUMPHREY'S LIBRARY, OXFORD. 



Jacqueline in lEnglanb loi 

''broke his head with a mattrass beater, " 
and ordered his greyhound to be hanged, as 
he had been the man's companion in his ne- 
farious hunting in the abbey woods. Duke 
Humphrey was nothing if not strenuous 
when he felt like it, and the writer may be 
believed that his summary methods '' set at 
rest this evil appetite for sporting on part of 
his servants." When they departed, the 
ducal visitors left two purple robes as a 
present.^ 

At another time, '' on the day of the exal- 
tation of the Holy Cross, after the celebra- 
tion of vespers, the Duchess of Holland rode 
through the great court of the abbey at- 
tended by twenty-four horsemen, on her 
way to the royal mansion at Langley, and 
next day the Duke followed her accompa- 
nied by the knight, John Robessart, and 
ten horsemen."^ 

The years following the marriage were 
consumed in delays of various kinds on both 
sides of the Channel, before action was taken 

^ See Riley, intr. to Amundesham, p. xvi. 

' Ibid.^ p. 8. The dowager queen, Joanna, was living at Langley. 



I02 H flDebi^val princess 

to reinstate the Countess and to determine 
what ducal title she might rightfully bear. 
There were many events which militated 
against Jacqueline's returning with her new 
husband to demand restitution of her alien- 
ated territories. 

In Holland the ex-bishop had proved an 
efficient ruler. He had brought affairs to 
such comparative quiet that the conditions 
of trade and manufacture had greatly im- 
proved both there and in Zealand. When 
his hands were freed in those provinces and 
he could entrust the reins to deputies, he 
turned his attention to Friesland, of which 
he styled himself Lord," as Jacqueline her- 
self "Lady," of the "free Frisians." The 
question as to the extent of their freedom 
had been a bone of contention between them 
and the counts of Holland for many a long 
year. William VI once gained some advan- 
tage only to lose it again, but John actually 
obtained recognition over one portion of their 
territory (September i, 1421) and retained it. 

Engrossed as he was in war, this ex-bishop 
also found time to be a patron of the arts. 



Jacqueline in jenglan^ 103 

It was to painting that he turned his atten- 
tion, however, rather than to books, hi his 
court the early Dutch artists found asylum 
and recognition. Jan van Eyck was in his 
service for about two years. We find his 
name in the long list of knights, minstrels 
and servants at The Hague, as my gracious 
lord's painter — myn genadichs heeren scilder. 

When the news was brought to John of 
Bavaria that Jacqueline's conditional promises 
to Humphrey had been fulfilled without 
waiting for the satisfaction of the condi- 
tions, he was highly shocked. He declared 
that a grievous insult had been offered to 
all Christendom. The suit of divorce was 
pending before the court of Rome. No 
new marriage was legally possible. This 
hasty act defied the curia and the civilised 
world and disgraced the pair. 

Not long afterwards, John executed an act 
making Philip of Burgundy his heir and his 
successor as ruward of Jacqueline's terri- 
tories. There was apparently no revival of 
his own ancient claim as count de facto. 
His pretensions rested solely on the mortgage 



I04 H flDcMaeval princeae 

given by John of Brabant, and the investiture 
of Emperor Sigismund was not mentioned in 
the deed. 

Humphrey paid little attention to his or 
to other protests. To Philip of Burgundy he 
applied for aid in restoring his wife to her 
heritage. All paper and ink sent in that 
quest were quite wasted, for Burgundy had 
nothing whatsoever to gain by dispossessing 
John the uncle. At the same time the situa- 
tion was complicated, because Philip did not 
really desire a breach with England, espe- 
cially as he had recently cemented his friend- 
ship with Humphrey's brother John by 
giving him the hand of his sister, Anne of 
Burgundy. It is evident, moreover, that 
Jacqueline's position as doubtful wife of her 
noble husband could not have been as dis- 
graceful in the eyes of her contemporaries 
as is represented by Bilderdijk and others. 
For when this new Duchess of Bedford was 
naturalised as a native of her husband's 
country it was also conceded in the name of 
the little king ''to our dearest kinswoman 
Jacqueline, Duchess of Gloucester, that she 



Jacqueline in lenglanb ros 

becomes a native (quod ipsa fiat indigena) 
and free to enjoy all rights as though she 
had been born in England."^ 

Her faithful friend, John Robessart, also 
became an English subject on the samie day 
(October 20, 1423).^ At the mioment of the 
issue of these naturalisation briefs Humphrey 
had succeeded in asserting his claim to more 
power in the government as guardian of 
Henry VI than the council desired to con- 
cede to him. On October 19th the right 
to convene Parliament was accorded to him 
and he thus attained a temporary triumph 
over his uncle, the Bishop of Winchester, 
who had opposed him in every step since 
the death of the late king, jealousy of 
Winchester was a large factor in Humphrey's 
reluctance to relinquish his hold on his 
nephew's affairs, even temporarily, in order 
to go abroad to retrieve his wife's fortunes. 

Meanwhile John of Brabant — styling him- 
self also Duke of Hainaut — declared his will- 
ingness to accept the dukes of Burgundy 

^ Kymtx's Fodder a, x., p. 311. See also Van Mieris, iv., p. 700. 
Rolls of Parliament, iv., p. 242. ^ Rymer, x., p. 312. 



io6 H fiDebia^val princeee 

and Bedford as arbitrators in the '' difference 
existing between him and the Duke of 
Gloucester."^ If Gloucester should refuse, 
however, he would not be bound. The 
Englishman was slow in his deliberations 
over this proposal. There was something 
humiliating in its terms. Jacqueline was 
living as Humphrey's wife and he thought 
that the legality of their union should be 
accepted by the family circle without further 
question. 

In September, 1423, Bedford met his new 
brother-in-law in Paris and promised to use 
his influence with Humphrey and make him 
consent to submit to arbitration. 

Evidently Bedford succeeded in presenting 
convincing arguments. On February 15, 
1424, Humphrey, ''son, brother and uncle 
of kings ^, Duke of Gloucester, Count of 
Haynnau, Hollande, Zeellande, Pembroucq 
and lord of Friesland, grand chamberlain 
and also protector and defender of England," 
in order to ''avoid great perils damages and 

^ Cartulaire, iv., p. 343. June 16, 1423. 
'■^ Ibid., p. 368. 



Jacqueline in lEnoIanb 107 

irreparable inconveniences," consents to 
submit the "debate, dissension, and discord 
between the Duke of Brabant on the one 
hand and us on the other to our well be- 
loved brother and cousin, the dukes of Bed- 
ford and Burgundy." Knowing, however, 
the law's delays, Humphrey expressly stipu- 
lates in this document that the decision must 
be made by the end of the following March 
or he would have none of it. The machinery 
of law moved slowly, however, as was its 
wont in the fifteenth century. Nothing was 
decided in March. And May was almost 
ended when Humphrey agreed to prolong 
his ''obligation contracted Feb. 15" until 
the end of June. 

At that same time^ Jacqueline gave her 
pledge to abide by the decisions to be ren- 
dered by ''our dear brother the regent of 
France, the Duke of Bedford and our well 
loved cousin the Duke of Burgundy " on the 
difference between "our cousin the Duke of 
Brabant" and "our much revered lord and 



* May 27th. These letters are in the archives at Dijon. Cartulaire, 
iv., pp. 380, 381. 



io8 a flDebia^val princeaa 

husband the Duke of Gloucester, Count of 
Hainaut, Holland, Zealand and Pembroucq."^ 
Yes, she promised by the '' faith and oath of 
our body and en parole de princesse " to ac- 
cept everything that might be decreed by 
the brother and cousin. Yet even in her pro- 
mise she assumed that one man was her 
husband and bore her titles by virtue of so 
being, and that the other was merely Duke 
of Brabant without claim to her estates. 
Her very words were contradictory. 

By the end of June judgment was still 
hanging fire.^ Days had been set for hear- 
ings several times at Bruges and elsewhere, 
there were several discussions, but no formal 
court was held until October, when the ar- 
bitrators met at Paris and the case was set 
forth. ^ Hair-splitting were the arguments. 
Papal letters were produced stating that 
Martin V certainly had been misinformed 
about what would cause trouble and what 

^ Cartulaire, iv., p. 380; also p. xxx. The original is at Lille. 

^ It was at Bruges on April 6th that John of Bavaria had declared 
Philip his heir. — Cartulaire, iv., p. 374. 

2 Monstrelet, iv., p. 207. Loher, ii., p. 146. Also Recueil des 
croniques d^Angleterre par Jehan de Waurin (Hardy's edition), v., 
livre iii., chap. 22. In some cases Waurin seems to copy Monstrelet. 



Jacqueline in lEnglanb 109 

would bring peace. Therefore his decrees 
enacted under misapprehension were invalid, 
and everything done to the injury of the 
Brabant marriage was null and void. 

Humphrey's advocates steadfastly refused 
to allow the above assertion to pass. They 
argued that in revoking his revocation the 
Pope had far exceeded his powers. It was 
impossible to confirm a right that had never 
existed. The latest dispensation, moreover, 
only referred to two of the hindrances be- 
tween the parties, but the other points were 
not mentioned. Jacqueline had never been 
the legal wife of John of Brabant. With full 
freedom and honour had she given her hand 
to Humphrey. Ergo the Duke of Brabant 
was bound to deliver over all her hereditary 
lands, goods, and revenues to Gloucester as 
her legal husband. Many more arguments 
were exchanged. Finally the Brabant duke 
declared that he would renounce all claim 
to his former wife if a life interest in Hainaut 
were conceded to him. After his death the 
countship might lapse to Humphrey who 
must assume all Jacqueline's debts, pay the 



no a flDebfeval prince06 

costs of the suit at Rome, and cede Hal, 
Heusden, and Geertruidenberg to Brabant. 
No decisive verdict was pronounced. All 
that the arbitrators decided was that the 
whole suit, with the new issues made clear 
at the trial, must be again submitted to the 
Pope. 

Humphrey had gained one point. The 
legality of his marriage was not expressly 
denied. That was all, and that was insuffi- 
cient to satisfy the pair. Nor did Humphrey 
and Jacqueline intend to be satisfied. They 
had indeed pledged themselves to accept 
the decision of the arbitration. But they 
held that this postponement was no judg- 
ment and that there was nothing to abide 
by. When the opinion was rendered they 
had already begun to take matters into their 
own hands and were en route for Hainaut. 
Owing to the French wars and the state of 
the English exchequer, the Privy Council 
decided that no troops should be furnished 
to Humphrey. England's duty was to keep 
every man and penny for her own immediate 
needs. But by hook and by crook the Duke 




ANNE OF BURGUNDY, DUCHESS OF BEDFORD. 

Bedford missal. Photo from original. 
British Museum MS. Add., iSS^^o. 



Jacqueline in )£n0lanb m 

succeeded in recruiting a respectable force at 
his own expense. 

In September an embassy sent from Mons^ 
to England found the adventurous and errant 
pair encamped at Dover waiting for a favour- 
able wind. ^ When it blev/ they sailed pleas- 
antly over to Calais and rumours of their 
enterprise spread here and there, reaching 
The Hague on October 2 1 st, where the coun- 
cil were sitting.^ In Mons the council were 
also in session and they had more accu- 
rate advices than rumour. "This day, 
Saturday [October 21st], after dinner were 
received two letters which our herald 
brought us, one from Monsieur of Gloucester 
and the other from our excellent hereditary 
Lady, mentioning that they had arrived at 
Calais in good disposition and that they 
intended to come to Hainaut to take 
possession." 

^ De Potter, p. 99. 

'See Kroniek (Hist. Gen. te Utrecht, 1851), p. 260. Geschied- 
kundige hj'^onderheden. 

^ " Premier registre des consaux de Mons." Cartulaire, iv., p. 413. 



CHAPTER VIII 
Sovereign in Hainaut 

1424 

IT was while Humphrey and Jacqueline 
were at Calais that they learned of the 
failure of the arbitrators to pronounce a final 
decision on their suit, and a few messages 
were exchanged between them and their 
kinsmen in Paris before they actually set out 
for Hainaut, in spite of well founded inform- 
ation that the good people of the province 
did not desire the return of their lady under 
the existing circumstances. 

'' On the 24th day of November there de- 
parted from Mons, Jehan de le Loge, Jaque- 
mart le Feron, etc., and made their way to 
Quesnoy to find our said very revered lady 
the dowager to beg her to intercede with 
our very respected lady her daughter and 



Sovereiflu in Ibainaut 113 

request her, please, not to come to the town 
of Mons nor to bring M. of Gloucester with 
her without the knowledge and consent of 
the Estates."' 

The envoys reached Quesnoy only to 
learn that the dowager had already departed 
for Bouchain, and that by that time she 
had joined her daughter and the Duke of 
Gloucester, and all three were travelling to- 
wards Mons. The worthy citizens hastened 
to follow the same route and they succeeded 
in coming up with the party at Crespin, 
where their city's message was duly deliv- 
ered. But ''notwithstanding the remon- 
strances "the ''hereditary lady" continued 
her journey. It was on Monday, November 
27th, that they left Crespin and they were 
received in Mons on the same day. The 
ducal pair with an escort were installed in the 
Naasterhof, but they consented, at the re- 
quest of the city, to leave the major part 
of their forces to lodge in the faubourgs of 
Mons. "On Wednesday after dinner our 
hereditary lady and the Duke of Gloucester 

* Cartulaire, iv., p. 419. 



114 a flDebi^val Iprinceee 

went to see the garden of the archery gild 
and gave a present of six nobles to aid in 
enlarging the chapel," and then Jacqueline 
took the Duke upon the hill in the park to 
have a viev/ and afterwards they visited the 
castle/ She was at home again, and proud 
to show her English husband her capital. 

Thus the city received the sovereign and 
her new duke in spite of previous protests, 
and the authorities expended ninety-four 
pounds and three shillings in wine to drink 
their health. The city fathers evidently de- 
termined to make the best of an unwelcome 
situation. 

There was little delay in convening the 
Estates of Hainaut. On December ist, they 
were in session in the Naasterhof. Then, 
in the name of Jacqueline, the sub-prior, Jan 
I'Orfevre, delivered an harangue setting forth 
the reason why her alleged marriage to John 
of Brabant was null and void.^ It was true, 
indeed, that Rome had lately given dispensa- 
tion anew in regard to two of the four points 

' Cartulaire, iv., p. 420. 

^Resolutions du conseil de ville. De Potter, note, 102, and 
Cartulaire, iv., p. 422. 



Sovereign in Ibainaut 115 

already urged and dispensation might be 
obtained for the other two, but still the 
marriage had never been valid in the past 
and Jacqueline, of course, no longer desired 
to make it so. In consenting to the Brabant 
union, the princess felt she had stained her 
conscience. She had now cleansed herself 
from her sin in confession and had received 
forgiveness under condition of giving twelve 
hundred French crowns to charity and of 
performing penance. These conditions she 
had duly fulfilled. Later, in accordance 
with the advice of learned theologians and 
lay scholars, she had entered into a union 
with the Duke of Gloucester which had now 
existed about two years and given rise to no 
opposition (?). On this ground she de- 
manded that her true and legitimate hus- 
band, Humphrey of Gloucester, should be 
received as regent and governor in Hainaut 
{mambour et avoue). 

The opinion of the assembly was that the 
session was hardly sufficiently full to take 
the responsibility of so weighty a decision. 
A little delay ensued while missing members 



ii6 a flDebteval princeea 

were summoned to fill their seats. The dis- 
cussion was renewed and on December 4th, 
after a heated debate, the princess's state- 
ment was accepted. No time was allowed 
to lag. On the very next day, December 
5th, the Duke of Gloucester was formally 
recognised as Count of Hainaut, and at the 
same time he received homage as regent in 
behalf of his wife.^ 

Then the Estates wrote to the Duke of 
Brabant that there was reciprocal release 
from all oaths given and taken between him 
and the people of Hainaut. 

This decision was accepted by the majority 
of the cities of Hainaut. Soignies, Mau- 
berge, Quesnoy, Valenciennes, were ready 
to offer their homage to Humphrey and Jac- 
queline. The city of Hal, two members 
of the families of Edingen, and the Lord of 
Jeumont adhered to John of Brabant, but the 
Lord of Havre, John's own commander-in- 
chief in Hainaut, joined Jacqueline's standard. 

Thus was the titular Count of Hainaut dis- 
possessed. Dynter represents him as wait- 

* Cartulaire, iv., p. 425. 



SovereiQU in Ibainaut u; 

ing like a pious Christian gentleman for the 
final decree of the Church to which he was 
obedient, highly indignant at Humphrey's 
refusal to abide by the Paris arbitration.^ 
The Brabanter, on receiving official news of 
the new footing on which he had been 
placed in Hainaut,straightway sent off plaint- 
ive messages to his uncle in Holland and to 
his cousin of Burgundy. The latter needed 
no spur to enter the field against Humphrey. 
When news was brought to him from Calais 
that the latter had thrown all considerations 
of policy to the winds and was actually on 
the road to claim Hainaut, accompanied by 
his wife and by an army to make good his 
claim, Philip was furious, and declared that 
henceforth he would aid John of Brabant to 
the full extent of his power. Humphrey had 
broken his word and need expect no further 
consideration from any Christian. Hum- 
phrey, on his part, was still disposed to avoid 
offending his cousin Philip more than he 
could help. '' In passing through the coun- 
try of the Duke of Burgundy he restrained 

* Dynter, vi., cap. 207. 



ii8 a flDcMaeval iprinceae 

his men from injury and would suffer them 
to do naught but to lodge and take victuals 
and drink courteously."^ 

While these events were passing, one foe 
of Jacqueline's was removed from her path. 
In the summer of 1424, before the errant 
countess had turned her face homeward, 
a plot had been hatched against the life 
of her uncle John, the ex-bishop. Jan van 
Vliet, the second husband of Jacqueline's 
half-sister Beatrice, was involved in this and 
convicted of the crime. We have the story 
as he is said to have told it in his confession.^ 

''On Ascension day Jan van Vliet was 
at Schoonhoven, and on Friday he supped 
with John the Bastard of Langeraek." After 
supper a group of men strolled along the 
river and Van Vliet fell into conversation 
with an English merchant who was of the 
party. '' Can you speak French?" said the 
latter. "No." " Latin, then?" "No." "Then 
you are only half a man," rejoined the mer- 
chant. Some medium of communication 

'Monstrelet, iv. , p. 210. Waurin, vol. v., liv., iii., ch. 32. 
'Van Mieris, iv., p. 729. Dynler, vi., cap. 208. 



SovcrelQU in Ibainaut 119 

was found, however, and the Englishman 
contrived to make it clear to the Hollander 
that he understood the fact of his enmity to 
John of Bavaria, and that he was ready to 
make it worth his while to rid the land of 
the obnoxious ex-prelate, besides furnishing 
him the means. Van Vliet met these ad- 
vances willingly. Poison was provided from 
England and given to him wrapped in a doe- 
skin bag enclosed in a little casket. Van 
Vliet found an opportunity of possessing 
himself of the ruward's prayer-book and, 
protecting his hand with a glove, he smeared 
the poison on the pages. He then threw 
the box into a vault and burned the glove, 
besides rubbing his hands on a wall and 
taking care not to touch food with his fingers 
for some time. The poison was only strong 
enough to make Duke John ill without kill- 
ing him. Owing to this failure, Van Vliet 
was refused the two thousand crowns pro- 
mised him. How the story leaked out does 
not appear, but by July, Van Vliet was ar- 
rested and examined in prison at Purmer- 
ende by the Duke's privy councillor and 



I20 a fll>eMa^\)aI princeee 



deputies from the four chief cities. Later he 
was taken to The Hague, where he repeated 
his confession before the Court of Holland 
where sat Frank and Floris van Borselen, 
Philip of Cortgene, and other barons, includ- 
ing a few from Luxemburg. In addition de- 
puties from ten of the chief Holland towns 
were present. The circumstances were 
plain and John van Woerden, Lord Van 
Vliet, was condemned to death and suffered 
his sentence on August 3, 1424. All details 
of the punishment ordinarily imposed for 
treason against a sovereign were enforced.^ 
Duke John dragged on a miserable exist- 
ence for some months, feeling his strength 
broken and his end near. In September he 
tried to provide for his future reputation 
and spiritual welfare by confirming anew all 
privileges and charters granted by him or 
by his predecessors to the dean and chapter 
of the chapel in the palace at The Hague, 
'' to the end that they should remember the 
souls of his parents^ and himself in the service 

' The statement in Van Mieris was not drawn up until after John of 
Bavaria's death. ^ Van Mieris, iv., p. 733. 



Sovereign in Ibainaut 121 

of God." At the entreaty of the Duke of 
Brabant, he also took heed to things of this 
world and began to make preparations to 
aid his nephew in repelling the imminent 
invasion of his territories. Epiphany was 
appointed as the date for the muster of his 
troops, the very time, however, when the 
ruward was forced to meet the summons 
of Fate in his own person. On January 6, 
1425, suddenly he fell dead. He was in 
the midst of this world's business. Only the 
day before he had been arranging about the 
payment for certain jewels, his New Year's 
gifts to his wife and her ladies, while at the 
moment when he breathed his last he was 
on his way to his newly levied army. The 
death was unhesitatingly attributed to 
the slow effects of the poison administered 
in July. The four quarters of Van Vliet's 
body hung rotting on the gates of the chief 
cities of Holland in ghastly reminder of the 
murderous purpose of the executed man even 
while the victim had apparently escaped^ 

^ Goudhoeven, Chron. van Holland. Van Mieris, iv., p. 730. The 
leg sent to Leyden remained on the gate for a year and then was burned. 



122 a flDebia^val princeee 

the danger. After he succumbed to it, the 
rumours regarding the real agent of the plot 
against his life were revived. Van Vliet 
had had plenty of reason for disliking the 
ruward on his own behalf, but no one 
charged him with being the principal in the 
crime. There were suspicions that the deed 
was plotted in England, that the poisoner 
was urged on by his sister's wrongs and not 
by his own grievances, and that Jacqueline 
herself was not innocent of actual complicity 
in her uncle's death. But there was no proof 
of her guilt, though she could not have re- 
gretted the decease of one who had wronged 
her with all the means in his power. 

Her actual gain, however, proved nothing. 
John of Brabant hastened to The Hague to 
take possession of the lands lapsed to him 
by the ruward's death as well as of those 
willed to him directly. On February 8, 1425, 
he proceeded to confirm all previous char- 
ters and privileges and heaped favours on 
the nobles, identifying himself entirely with 
the Cod party. ^ The animus of his every 

* Dynter, vi., cap. 209. Van Mieris, iv,, p. 747, etc- 



^•m :'T.~>. 







CARDINAL BEAUFORT, BISHOP OF WINCHESTER. 
From a painting by J. Parker in the collection of Horace Walpole 



Sovereign in Ibainaut 123 

action came, however, from Philip of Bur- 
gundy, whose way to his desired goal began 
to seem clear. Jacqueline was passed over 
in silence in her uncle's will, and Philip was 
named as heir after John of Brabant, who was 
already so very feeble that he could hardly 
sit a horse. He counted for little. Had it 
not been for Burgundy, Holland and Zealand 
would have undoubtedly returned to the 
obedience of Jacqueline. There were con- 
fident expectations that the Pope was about 
to declare Humphrey the legal husband of 
his unfortunate wife, and then the land could 
hope to have a strong-handed governor and 
protector. The cities were divided as to 
their action. Some acknowledged John of 
Brabant at once, others held back. Dor- 
drecht and Zierikzee, for example, declared 
themselves neutral. It was Schoonhoven 
that became the headquarters of Jacqueline's 
party, and thither flocked the discontented 
in numbers, but there was little formal re- 
sponse to the open letters issued jointly by 
Humphrey and Jacqueline calling on cities 
and nobles to aid their cause. 



CHAPTER IX 

Hopes and Fears 

1425 

\ AT'lTH the disappearance of the ex-bishop 
^ ^ from the scene, Philip of Burgundy 
felt a greater personal interest at stake in 
the general conflict of interests, and he neg- 
lected no means in his power calculated to 
annoy or embarrass the man whose rivalry 
he feared. This was at the epoch when it 
was considered a virtuous action to enlist in 
the war against the heretical Hussites. From 
the pulpit, priests were in the habit of urging 
the faithful to volunteer or to contribute 
funds to aid in campaigns against pernicious 
heretics, just as they had preached crusades 
against the Turks. At the instigation of 
Philip, similar means were employed to urge 
Hainauters to assume arms against the Eng- 
lishman who defied the Church by taking 

124 



Ibopea anb jfeare 125 

to himself the wife of another. These ser- 
mons, which put him on a par with Turks 
and heretics and ranked his opponents as 
pious crusaders fighting a righteous battle, 
roused Humphrey's bitter anger. The ru- 
mours of such personal attacks were per- 
haps indefinite for a time, but when there 
fell into his hands one of the broadsides is- 
sued by Duke Philip, summoning all able 
to bear arms to join the standard of John 
of Luxemburg, who was about to repel 
Humphrey's iniquitous invasion, the latter 
seized his pen and proceeded to protest vig- 
orously against his cousin's action. The text 
of the wordy epistles that passed between 
the two princes is given in Monstrelet, taken 
from copies seen by that author.^ The 
whole correspondence is an odd chapter in 
Jacqueline's story. 

Humphrey's first letter is written in ''My 
city of Mons, under my seal January 12th." 
The tenor of the contents is that he can 
hardly believe that the proclamation which 
he encloses actually emanated from Duke 



126 H fiDebi^val princeee 

Philip even though it is dated from Dijon, 
because, forsooth, it is full of lies, and 
his said cousin would not deviate so far 
from the truth. Who was better aware 
than Philip how ready Gloucester had 
been to accept the decision of the arbi- 
trators upon the differences between him and 
the Duke of Brabant? " You know what 
offers 1 have made even to my disadvantage, 
to which, as you know, the party of the 
Duke of Brabant would not listen nor would 
they make any accommodation. . . . 
And you know, too, if consanguinity is to 
influence you in your action, that you ought 
to be inclined to help' my cause, considering 
that my companion and wife is doubly your 
first cousin and my cousin of Brabant is not 
so near of kin to you. Moreover, you are 
bound to me by a treaty of peace which you 
and 1 solemnly swore to preserve. On the 
other hand no such compact exists between 
you and the Duke of Brabant. Nay more, 
he has entered into alliances which would 
naturally excite you against him. 1 have 
not broken our compact and never shall. 



1bopc0 anb fears 127 

. . . If I have injured iny cousin of 
Brabant it is not my fault, as you know, but 
his attacks have forced me to do what lies 
in my power to defend my honour and my 
country. As to the truth, you know already 
what is patent to all the world, etc. . . . 
Therefore high and powerful prince, most 
worthy and much loved cousin, let me know 
your intentions by the bearer of this and 
also whether I can do anything for your 
service. I will busy myself therein with all 
my heart. Our Lord, whose protection for 
you I pray, knows it." 

Philip had nothing ready for the return 
messenger, in accordance with Humphrey's 
request. His answer was delayed until 
March 3d, but it is unequivocal. He ac- 
knowledges the letters patent and proclama- 
tions as issued by him, declares roundly 
that it was the Duke of Brabant who had 
accepted, and Gloucester who had refused, 
the decree of the Paris tribunal, that it was 
John who was right and Humphrey who 
was wrong, because, without awaiting the 
Pope's final decision on the legality of his 



128 a flDebia^val princea^ 

marriage he had ''fallen on Hainaut with 
an armed force and tried to drive out my 
Brabant cousin and to rob him of his lawful 
possessions." Philip demands that Hum- 
phrey shall retract all expressions insulting 
to his truth and to his honour, and then sug- 
gests that, in case Humphrey persists in his 
damaging assertions, it might be better for 
them, ''two young knights as we are," to 
put an end to the quarrel in single combat 
and to avoid spilling Christian blood. Ig- 
noring the fact that he had delayed weeks 
before replying to Humphrey's urgent letter, 
in his turn, the Duke of Burgundy is impa- 
tient and demands an immediate answer by 
bearer. He did not have it. Nearly a fort- 
night elapses before Humphrey's response 
from Soignies. The contents were as fol- 
lows: 

'' High and Mighty Prince Philip, Duke of 
Burgundy, Count of Flanders, Count of 
Artois and Burgundy, 
" I, Humphrey, Son, Brother, and Uncle to 

the Kings of England, Duke of Gloucester, 



Ibopea anb fcnvB 129 

Count of Hainaiit, Holland and Zealand, and 
Pembroke, Lord of Friesland, and Grand 
Chamberlain of the King of England, have 
received your letters in the form of a placard 
addressed to me, v/ritten on the third in- 
stant, duly signed with your name and 
sealed to assure me that its contents come 
from your knowledge and at your instance. 
*' Recapitulation of its contents seems to 
me as little worth while as to you seemed 
repetition of my letter written from my good 
cityofMonsinmycountshipofHainautunder 
my seal on January 1 2th. But when your let- 
ter asserts that I have, as you say, refused to 
lay aside my quarrel with my cousin the 
Duke of Brabant, I must declare that is less 
than the truth. For my dear brother, the 
regent, and the entire French council are 
perfectly aware of what my action has been 
and you know it too, and you cannot deny it 
if you want to. And as to your charges that 1 
accuse you falsely and mendaciously . . . 
I assure you that I will stand by my letter 
and maintain it as true. Moreover ... it 
is confirmed by what your people have done 



I30 a flDeMaeval Iprinceea 

and perpetrated in my countship. Not for 
you, not for any man will 1 go back on my 
word. Therefore will I, with the help of 
God, of the Virgin, and of my patron St. 
George acknowledge and stand by the con- 
tents of my letter — will stake my body 
against yours on its truth, before either of 
the arbitrators whom you have chosen — 
Both are the same to me. 

'' And as to your demand that we should 
make short work of our affair — that, too, is 
exactly what I wish, and as my dear brother ^ 
is near at hand I am quite content to submit 
the matter to him and accept him as an arbi- 
trator. ... If, however, my brother will 
not take part in the affair, then 1 am content 
that it shall go before the very high and 
mighty prince, the Emperor, and if he refuse, 
before my brother-in-law Adalbert or some 
other impartial judge. Because 1 do not 
know whether you will hold by your signet, 
so I ask and demand that you send me an- 
other letter by the bearer of this, sealed 

'This is heaufrere in Monstrelet, iv., p. 221, but evidently it is 
Bedford who is meant. 



1bope0 ant) ifeara 131 

with your state seal as this letter is sealed 
with mine. 

''And as for the Brabanter, if you continue 
to assert that he has more right in this con- 
test than I, then am I ready to declare — my 
body against yours — on the day [St. George's] 
and before the judges aforesaid, that I have 
and will have better right by the Grace of 
God, of Our Lady, and of St. George. 

'' And as a token that I count and maintain 
all this as upright have I set my name there- 
to and my state seal. Written in my city 
of Soignies, March 16, 1425." 

This time Philip's response is immediate 
and written on the same day, March i6th. 
He throws Humphrey's words back in his 
teeth, reasserts his own position in an arro- 
gant fashion, and expatiates on his hearty 
sympathy for his injured cousin of Brabant. 
He accepts Humphrey's challenge in a de- 
precating manner as though he himself had 
not suggested the duel, and agrees to St. 
George's Day (April 23d) as the date, sub- 
ject to the approval of the Duke of Bedford. 



132 H flDebi^val prlnceee 

Letters on the subject were not confined 
to the chief parties. The University of 
Paris wrote to the Duke of Burgundy, 
to the Privy Council, and to English pre- 
lates, urging that the quarrel be not al- 
lowed to come to the point of a duel. The 
arguments are most copious and classic 
quotations abound.^ 

Meantime other events had taken place. 
On February 3d, the Estates of Hainaut 
convened at the call of the English duke, 
who delivered an harangue on the need of 
absolute union between Holland, Zealand, 
and Hainaut, and exhorted the loyal sub- 
jects of himself and his wife to write at 
once to her northern provinces and bring 
them to their duty. After this, taxes were 
imposed and a few were collected, but a 
state of war, or uncertainty worse than war, 
prevailed throughout Hainaut. The English 
soldiers overran the territory and the inhab- 
itants did not know which evil to choose. 
Little by little, however, Jacqueline's cause 
lost ground. Sometimes, as it seemed, by 

^Journal des Savants, — 1899, p. 191 et seq. 



Ibopes anb jfeara 133 

sheer ill luck. Braine-le-Comte, a town that 
held, stoutly to her cause, was besieged by 
the Count of St. Pol in behalf of his brother, 
the Duke of Brabant. The English garrison 
placed there by Humphrey was strong in 
its position, when suddenly on the eighth 
day of the siege they yielded up the 
city, which paid a heavy penalty for its 
resistance. Later, some of the prisoners 
were questioned as to the reason for their 
capitulation, unexpected and unnecessary, 
especially as in earlier attacks they had dis- 
played such sturdiness. Their answer was 
that they had not had the remotest intention 
of surrendering, when, to their terror and 
amazement, they saw St. George himself 
riding among the invaders. Then they 
knew that God was against them and that 
there was no further use in holding out. It 
was no vision, only a case of mistaken 
identity. Among the Brabanters was one 
Daniel de Bouchout, whose own arms were 
almost the same as those of St. George. The 
fact that he rode a beautiful white horse 
completed the illusion and superstition 



134 S flDcMaeval Iprinceea 

conquered where strength would have 
failed.^ John of Brabant recognised the aid 
rendered by the good citizens of Bois-le- 
Duc in this siege by the present of a twelve 
branched candelabra. 

There was a growing public sentiment 
against the righteousness of Jacqueline^s 
cause. A league actually sprang into being 
among her opponents. A tiny silver shield 
attached to the right arm distinguished the 
young nobles of this brotherhood. The 
sun emblazoned on the shield signified that 
the Duke of Brabant's rights were as clear as 
the sun. Now John of Brabant was no heroic 
figure and it is hard to believe that adher- 
ents adopted his cause for personal love of 
him. This warm partisanship was fictitious, 
and behind the fiction undoubtedly stood 
the ingenious and ever ready Philip of Bur- 
gundy. Strange how little compassion was 
apparently excited by the dispossessed 
Countess whose fate was so full of pathos. 

' Dynter, vi., cap. 211. Brabantsche Yeesten, vii., verse 15197 
et seq. See too, Memoires de Pierre de Fenin, p. 23 1 . (Fenin b. 138s, 
d. 1433. Prevot of Arras.) 



f 







TWELVE-BRANCHED CANDELABRA PRESENTED TO THE CITIZENS OF 
BOIS LE DUC. 1424 O. S. 



1bope0 ant) fcaxe 135 

Dame Jacque la desiree she was called in the 
camps, but there is a tone of derision in the 
term.^ 

While Philip and Humphrey were ex- 
hausting their stock of epistolary epithets 
upon each other, new letters came from 
Rome dated February 13, 1425. Martin V 
hastened to disavow all the proclamations 
purporting to come from him which had 
been published in Jacqueline's territory and 
which asserted the legality of her English 
marriage. All were forgeries and the di- 
vorce was still pending. He orders Jacque- 
line to leave Humphrey and remain under 
the charge of some neutral prince.^ There is 
no doubt as to the reason for this mandatory 
brief Philip of Burgundy had plenty of 
very convenient gossips in his service who 
could carry news or rumours wheresoever 
and whensoever he wished. At this crisis 
any barrier to Jacqueline's acquisition of 

' The authorities for statements like this are mainly Burgundian. 
In Valenciennes, however, among her own people there was sharp 
opposition. There a broadside was circulated showing Dame Reason 
telling Humphrey that he was more criminal than his father, the regi- 
cide, or his brother who tried to steal France. (See Loher ii., p. 192.) 

"^ Dynter, vi., cap, 214, 



136 a flDebiaeval iprlnceee 

friends or of reputation in the Netherlands 
was important to him and the Pope's letter, 
undoubtedly written at his direct instigation, 
was a timely damper to hopes cherished 
by Jacqueline that her equivocal status was 
to be speedily settled at Rome in accordance 
with her fervent wishes. 

The loss of Braine-le-Comte was serious; 
then followed a truce to last until the much 
talked of duel of St. George's Day. Mean- 
while urgent letters came from England be- 
seeching Humphrey to return. He was torn 
in two directions, but the reasons for going 
proved the more cogent. He had no desire 
to abandon his hold on his royal nephew's 
affairs by too long an absence from Lon- 
don, he wanted new accoutrements so as to 
make a brave appearance when he met Bur- 
gundy in the duel, he was restrained from 
pressing on to Holland and Zealand as he 
desired, he was losing faith in the chances 
that the legality of his marriage would soon 
be duly established, he was tired of his own 
position, uncertain in spite of the display of 
his titles, and perhaps, too, he was a little 



Ibopea an& Jfeare 137 

weary of his impetuous wife, who was prob- 
ably not a very soothing companion in these 
days when the tide of her affairs seemed to 
have turned for the worse. 

Whatever his exact motive or mixture of 
motives, however, Duke Humphrey set off 
for England about April 12th. ^ There was 
rejoicing in Hainaut when he took away his 
troops, who had preyed sadly on the land, 
but the titular mistress of the province did 
not share in the joy. She and her mother 
with an escort of sixteen horse accompanied 
Humphrey as far as Crespin, for Jacqueline 
could not bear to say farewell to her hus- 
band at St. Ghislain, as first proposed. To 
Mons Jacqueline then sadly returned alone, 
and on Monday, April 30th, according to the 
records,^ she appeared before the municipal 
council and made an appeal in person for 
their aid. Certainly her stress was dire. 

^ Waurin is an authority for the statement that with him went 
Eleanor Cobham, one of Jacqueline's English ladies-in-waiting, who 
would not stay longer in foreign parts (v., chap. 37), 

Particularites Curieuses sur Jacqueline de Baviere, i., p. 112; 
Fenin, p. 2^4; Monstrelet, iv., part ii., chap, 29; St. Remy, ii., 
chap. 145; Beitrdge, pp. 64, 65; Stow, Chron., p. 367; Cartulaire, 
iv., p. xxxvi., etc. ' Cartulaire, iv , p. 462. 



138 a flDebtoval iprinceee 

The nets stretched by Burgundy and Brabant 
were being drawn tighter about her. Her 
cause was a lost one when she wrote the 
following letter to her English husband. 
Her choice of terms in addressing him are 
filial rather than wifely.^ 

''My much feared seigneur and father, as 
humbly as I can and know how to do I re- 
commend myself to your kindness. And pray 
know, my most excellent lord and father, 
that 1 write now to your lordship as the 
most unhappy, the most ruined and falsely 
treated woman alive. For, my most re- 
spected seigneur, on Sunday, June 13,^ the 
deputies of your city of Mons returned and 
brought a treaty drafted and signed between 
our fine cousins of Burgundy and Brabant, 
which treaty was made in the absence of 
my mother and without her knowledge, as 
she has herself assured me through Master 
Gerard le Grand, her chaplain. Therefore, 



' All authors take this letter to Humphrey from Monstrelet, iv., p. 235. 

^ XIII. Thus it stands in Monstrelet and is repeated in Van Mieris, 
iv. , p. 783. Loher corrects to third. See also Cartulaire — troi^ieme; 
iv., p. 475. As April 29th fell on Sunday so did June 3d; June 13th is 
Wednesday . 



1bope6 ant) jfeare 139 

respected seigneur, my mother has written 
letters regarding the same treaty about which 
she did not venture to advise me, for she 
herself did not know what to do, but she 
begged me to ask my good people of this 
city to find out what consolation and aid 
they could furnish me. 

''Thereupon, much loved lord and father, 
1 went on the following morning to the 
council chamber and reminded them how 
you, at their own desire and prayer, had con- 
sented to leave me under their care and 
protection as people who had sworn that 
they would be your true and faithful sub- 
jects, trusting them to shelter me and to 
give you reckoning thereof, according to the 
oath they had sworn by the sacrament of 
the altar and on the holy gospels. There- 
upon, my honoured lord and father, they 
answered roundly that they were not strong 
enough to protect me. And at the same 
time, confirming their words with deeds, 
they arose and said that my people wanted 
to murder them. And it went so far, my 
dread lord, that they seized one of your 



I40 a flDe&la^val prlnceee 

subjects, Sergeant Macart, and had him be- 
headed in my very presence. Then they 
arrested all who love you and belong to 
your party, such as Bardoul de la Porte, his 
brother Colard, Gillet de la Porte, Jean du 
Bois, Guillaume de Leeur, Sanson, your 
sergeant, Pierre Baron, Sandrart, Dandre, and 
others of your follow^ers to the number of 
two hundred and fifty. 

''They also intend to arrest Heer Baud- 
ouin, the treasurer, Heer Louis de Montfort, 
Haulvere, Jehan Fresne, and Estienne d'lstre. 
They have not yet done this but 1 do not 
know what they may still do. Also they 
said without circumlocution, that if I would 
not come to an agreement they would de- 
liver me into the hands of my fine cousin of 
Brabant. 1 only have permission to stay in 
this city eight days, before I am forced to go 
to Flanders, which is very grievous and 
hard for me, for 1 greatly doubt whether I 
shall ever see you again in my whole life 
unless you come to my aid in all haste. 

''Ah, my dread lord and father, all my 
hopes and expectations are in your control; 



Ibopee anb fcave 141 

you are my only and sovereign joy and all 
that I suffer is from love of you. So 1 im- 
plore you humbly and as tenderly as one 
can in this world, that for God's sake you 
may have pity on me and my misery and 
come to aid me, your forlorn creature, as 
speedily as possible, if you do not wish to 
lose me for ever. I hope that you will do 
this. For, my dread lord and father, 1 have 
not deserved otherwise of you and as long 
as I live I shall never do anything that could 
displease you. Yes, I am ready at any mo- 
ment to encounter death from love of you 
and your noble person, for your lordship is 
all my delight. By my faith, my dread lord 
and prince, my sole consolation, and my last 
hope, may it please you for the love of God 
and of our patron Saint George, to consider as 
speedily as you can my dolorous affairs. This 
you have not yet done, for, as it seems, you 
have wholly forgotten me. 

'' For the moment I know nothing else to 
write, except that 1 have sent Lord Louis de 
Montfort in all haste to you, for, although he 
remains true to me when all others forsake 



142 H flDcMa^val princeee 

me, he cannot stay here longer. He will 
tell you all in more detail than 1 can write. 
Therefore I implore you, very w^orthy lord 
and father, be a good master to him, and let 
me know your wish, which 1 will obey with 
my whole soul. 

'' My witness is the blessed son of God, 
who may give you a long and happy life, 
and grant me the favour of seeing you again 
to my great joy. 

'' Written in the false and treacherous city 
of Mons with a deeply sorrowful heart on 
the sixth day of June. 

''Your sorrowing and beloved child, who 
suffers unspeakably for your sake. Your 
daughter of 

"QUENNBOURG." ' 

To her cousin Louis, Count Palatine, then 
in London, Jacqueline also wrote a short 
letter ^ 

' Loher considers that Qtiennbourg is simply a mistake of the copyist 
for Pembroucq, one of Humphrey's titles. (Beitrage, p. 83.) In 
some editions it is " Quienbourg." Gachard, in Barante, Hist, des 
Dues de Bourgogne, i., 456, note 2, doubts whether the letter as given 
by Monstrelet is genuine, owing to the date, June 1 3th, That is, how- 
ever, evidently a mere slip, as other circumstances fix the dates. 

" Monstrelet, iv., p. 238. See also Vinchant, Annates de la province 
et comtedu Haynaut, vi., p. 164. The signature occurs in the two forms. 



Ibopea ant) ifeare 143 

''Very worthy beloved cousin. I com- 
mend myself to your protection. Know 
that at the writing of this letter I am in great 
trouble as a woman falsely and treacher- 
ously betrayed. And as you desire to have 
tidings, my very worthy and beloved cousin, 
know that at present 1 can do no more than 
repeat what 1 have already written. Please 
ask our very dear and dread lord, who can 
tell you more than you may like to hear. 
Otherwise 1 could not help repeating, except 
to beg you keep your hand to that which 
you know, so that my dread lord may come, 
otherwise neither you nor he will ever see 
me again. 

''And as to your advice to me to cross 
the sea, it is too late; do you hasten hither 
with a good force that you may free me 
out of the hands of the Flemish, where I 
will be in eight days. Beloved and dear 
cousin, I pray God that he may give you a 
fair life and a long one. Written in the false 
and treacherous city of Mons, June 6th. 
" Your cousin, 

** Jacqueline of Quennebrouch." 



144 H flftebia^val princeae 

In London, meanwhile, Humphrey was 
received with bitter reproaches that he had 
allowed his private concerns to jeopardise 
the holiest interests of his nephew, of his 
brother, of England. Never again should he 
have troops to fight against Philip. Hum- 
phrey found himself assailed by criticism on 
all sides, and, unless he were willing to allow 
his uncle of Winchester once for all to arro- 
gate all his powers to himself, it was evident 
that he must stay on English soil to hold his 
ground. He was obliged to postpone the 
date of the duel, a postponement that suited 
Philip perfectly. 

The reports heard by Jacqueline were true. 
Mons had been forced to sacrifice her inter- 
ests to its own safety, and to yield after a 
brief siege. A treaty arranged at Douay 
between beau cousin de Bourgogne and beau 
cousin de Brabant was indeed most injurious 
to Jacqueline, since her quondam husband 
was restored to her sovereignty of Hainaut, 
and she was entrusted to the '' protection " 
of Philip. She humbled herself so far as 
to appeal to that ex-husband through the 



Ibopee ant) fcavB 145 

Count of Nassau. She begged him to take 
her to Brabant rather than to deliver her 
over to the guardianship of her too-pov/erful 
cousin. She might have spared her breath 
and her humiliation. To Flanders she was 
forced to go, and thither she journeyed 
under the escort of the Prince of Orange at 
the head of five hundred troops. 

It was on Wednesday, June 13th, at two 
o'clock that the countess left the Naasterhof 
and rode sadly away from her ''false and 
treacherous capital." An item in the books 
of Mons shows that twenty-eight wagons 
were provided to carry her furniture, jewels, 
and baggage.^ As she passed the windmill 
near Ath, on the road to Ghent, there was an 
attempt to rescue her, but the Prince of 
Orange was on his guard, and her friends were 
easily overpowered. After she was fairly out 
of the way, the Duke of Brabant appeared in 
the neighbourhood of Mons. A little delay 
to make a few stipulations ''for self-protec- 
tion," and then there were gay festivals 

' Meubles et jeulviaux et haghages {Cartulaire, iv., p. 481), 

etc, 

zo 



146 a flDcMa^val lprince60 

when the worthy citizens entered into the 
obedience of the former husband ot their 
sometime sovereign lady, and within a few 
weeks her name disappears as a factor in 
civic affairs from the municipal records of the 
capital of Hainaut.^ Duke John appointed 
the Burgundian commander, John of Luxem- 
burg, asstadtholder of Hainaut — an appoint- 
ment that revealed the guiding spring of his 
action if further indications were needed. 

* See Philip's letters, Cartulaire, etc., iv., p. 477. 



CHAPTER X 

In Prison and Out 

A XT' HEN the cavalcade forming Jacque- 
^ ^ line's escort reached Ghent, the un- 
happy lady was lodged in the Grafenstein, 
an old fortress built at the time of Emperor 
Otto the Great, and used for many years 
as residence by the counts of Flanders. 
By the fifteenth century it was abandoned 
for a more modern palace. Its ancient 
black walls rose from the middle of the 
town. Below, it was furnished with under- 
ground passages leading from the cellar to 
the city walls through which troops could 
be brought at need. Since the building 
had ceased to be a dwelling, it had been 
employed as a prison, though it is said that 
the rooms were also put to pleasanter 
usage, as studios for the two Van Eycks 
when they were at work on the Adoration 

147 



148 a flDcMa^val prlnceae 

of the Lamb. At the best it was a dreary 
place and its choice as Jacqueline's re- 
sidence did not augur well for the kind of 
care to be given by her self-constituted pro- 
tector. Thinking that she was no longer 
an active factor in affairs, with Humphrey 
safe across the channel, the Duke of Bur- 
gundy thought he saw his way clear to 
obtaining the greater authority in the Neth- 
erlands which he had long desired. 

At this moment a certain similarity in dy- 
nastic conditions prevailed in four groups of 
Netherland territories. Count Dietrich in 
Namur, Elizabeth of Gorlitz in Luxemburg, 
Jacqueline in Holland, Zealand, and Hainaut, 
John in Brabant with the affiliated states, 
were all alike in being childless. To all these 
rulers, Philip of Burgundy was either next 
of kin or declared heir. It was, therefore, 
not unnatural that there was a disposition 
among the people to look ahead to the 
time when all these uncertainties should be 
certain and Philip, unequivocally, the chief of 
all. It was not surprising that the harassed 
citizens showed some inclination to antici- 



Hn pri6on an& ®ut 149 

pate the day when his great armies should 
be a protection instead of a menace to the 
exposed frontier towns. 

While, on one hand, there were reports 
that no more English troops and money 
were to be provided in Humphrey's cause, 
there were also counter rumours. In July a 
fine tale was told the stadtholder of Hainaut 
by an English exile — a tale bristling with 
details that apparently vouched for its truth. ^ 
For a hundred years nothing had caused so 
much excitement in England as the fashion 
in which Humphrey had been treated in 
Hainaut, in the territory of his lawful wife. 
Eighty thousand gold pieces besides twenty 
thousand bowmen had been offered to aid 
Gloucester in a new campaign. The Scotch 
king had lately wed Humphrey's cousin 
and had pledged himself in his marriage 
contract to furnish his kinsman with eight 
thousand men. From Ireland too, the same 
number were coming and every English 
soldier now on French soil had promised 
to hasten to the Netherlands at the first 

* Dynter, vi., cap. 220, etc. 



I50 a flDcM^val princeea 

news of Humphrey's landing. All this and 
more was said by the exile fresh from Lon- 
don. His words were carried to various 
quarters. Some who heard, nodded wisely 
and said that English merchants from Ca- 
lais had talked much in the same strain. 
Fear lest this might be true caused a half 
belief in its verity and strengthened ap- 
prehensions that already existed. Possibly 
the reports were made in Burgundy with the 
direct purpose of paving the way for ac- 
ceptance of a definite compact sealed by 
Jacqueline's foes to her prejudice. On July 
19th, John of Brabant signed a deed ap- 
pointing the Duke of Burgundy as Ruward 
of Holland and Zealand.^ 

On July 25, 1425, a birthday spent by Jac- 
queline in the sombre fortress of Ghent, 
her former husband issued letters patent 
to the Hollanders and Zealanders request- 
ing them to obey the Duke of Burgundy, 
to whom he had committed the govern- 



' The chancellor of Brabant refused to allow the official seal to be 
appended to this document. A new one was made for the purpose. 
Beitrage, p. 84; Dynter, vi., cap. 122. 



Iln iprieon anb ®ut 151 

ment of his lands for a term of years. No 
time was lost by the new Ruward and Heir 
of Holland, Zealand, and Friesland, as the 
omnivorous Burgundian hastened to style 
himself in addition to his former titles. He 
gathered a fleet at Sluis, besides a picked 
force of two thousand, and set out for the 
new countries of ''his obedience." Like 
an army of carrier pigeons, his letters pre- 
ceded him bearing his thanks to those who 
had invited him "to liberate the land." 
There was no dearth of assurances that 
Philip would confirm existing privileges. 
Moreover he offered to assume all debts 
left by the late John of Bavaria.^ When it 
suited his purpose he was right royal with 
gracious promises and Burgundian gold.^ 
The Cod party was quite ready to accept 
him, and they were the strongest now as 
their numbers had increased under John 
of Bavaria. 

How much the prisoner heard of what 
was passing does not appear. She certainly 

^ Kroniek, "Hist. Genoot te Utrecht," 1851, p. 272. 

' This appears in the Recette generate de Hainaut. Ibid. 



152 a flDcM^val lprince00 

was not cut off from all outside communi- 
cation, as is evident from her letters to her 
English husband on June 19th, telling him 
of her stress. But she had no part in the 
world about her. Her English brother-in- 
law, John, Duke of Bedford, with his Bur- 
gundian wife, visited Flanders that summer 
and they were right sumptuously enter- 
tained by Philip and by his new lady. 
Bonne of Artois. The Duchess of Bedford 
had been naturalised in England on the 
same day as the Duchess of Gloucester, 
but fortune looked on them with a differ- 
ent face, and the luckless sister-in-law 
certainly did not mingle in the gay doings 
which celebrated the visit of Anne to her 
brother. Apparently, however, through the 
prison walls, there penetrated whispers of 
Philip's further intentions in Jacqueline's 
regard, intentions not thwarted by her 
brother of Bedford. There was talk of 
sending her to Lille, later to Savoy, where 
she would be under neutral protection. 
Ghent was in dangerous proximity to Hol- 
land and to England. Even if Philip re- 



Tin pvxBon anb ®ut 153 

ceived general homage he was perfectly 
conscious that there would always be a 
chance of fresh Hook plots against him, and 
the risk would be doubled if the presence 
of the hereditary princess offered a tempt- 
ing rallying-point for the disaffected. 

This plan of removing her into a more 
permanent place of detention roused Jac- 
queline's apprehension and she found means 
to take matters into her own hand to re- 
move herself out of her cousin's reach. In 
some way she established communication 
with her Hook friends in Holland. The 
importance of her immediate escape was 
evident and two gentlemen, Arnold Spier- 
inck of Aalborcht and Vos from Delft, so 
runs one story,^ offered to rescue their 
lady. Disguised as merchants they jour- 
neyed to Ghent, taking extra horses laden 
with wares. Having engaged lodging in 
the city, they loitered around the Grafen- 
stein until they attracted Jacqueline's notice. 

^ Codex Tegernseer, p. 21. Other names are given by some 
authors, Waurin says that Jacqueline was conime prisoniere eslargie 
en la ville de Gand, when she made her escape. It is of course 
possible that she was not held in actual captivity. 



154 a flDeMa^val prlnceea 

Through her window she recognised them 
as old friends, and in some fashion managed 
to receive the bundle of clothes that they 
carried concealed beneath their cloaks. On 
an appointed night the princess ordered her 
bath-room heated that she might take a bath. 
This was duly reported, and while her guards 
believed that their charge was safe in the 
room whose lights they could see from their 
post, she escaped through an unguarded 
door, attended by a maid clad like herself 
in the page's dress provided by the pre- 
tended merchants. Unnoticed in this dis- 
guise, the two women walked through the 
streets and out of the city gates. 

The Hollanders awaited them with four 
horses freed from the traders' packs. All 
mounted and rode away at full speed 
through the night. None took rest till dawn 
when they found themselves at the banks 
of the Scheldt with Antwerp's towers in 
sight. A boat lay hidden in the rushes, 
left for them as prearranged. With this 
they crossed the river and entered the city. 
At an appointed place they found a wagon 



^^m?z 




o s 

f- ^ 

5 < 



Iln prteon anb ®ut 155 

and within it a couple of gowns such as were 
worn by women of the middle class. The 
two pages transformed themselves into burg- 
her dames, and, seated in the rough convey- 
ance, continued their journey to Breda, where 
they took a brief rest and then hastened on, 
weary though they were, to Vianen which 
they reached before sunrise on the fourth 
day. Here they were safe on the territory 
of Henry, Lord of Vianen, a staunch sup- 
porter of the Hook cause. He hastened to 
kiss Jacqueline's hand and to offer his ser- 
vices, while his wife brought out the best 
garments that her wardrobe contained and 
aided the fugitive princess to attire herself 
as better befitted her rank. 

''And when the departure of the lady 
came to the knowledge of Duke Philip he 
was deeply troubled," says Monstrelet.^ 
Well he might be. It is always trouble- 
some to have one's pet plans upset by the 
unfeeling egoism of other people. Philip 
found it very annoying to have his cousin 

^ La Chronique, iv., ii., ch. 35. Dynter and his rhyming echo 
make little of the event. 



156 H flDeMa^val princeas 

rush into the midst of things in her head- 
long and inconvenient fashion. 

The news was also promptly carried to 
Humphrey. 

''On Sunday, September 2d, there de- 
parted from the said town of Ghent Pierre 
the clerk of the receiver and went to Eng- 
land to my said lord [Gloucester] to tell him 
of the departure of my lady from the city of 
Ghent, which was a Friday in the night the 
last day of August, and he came from my 
said lord by his command and returned to 
Holland and found my lady in the city of 
Gouda to whom he delivered the letters of 
my said lord."^ 

Prisoner though she was, and deprived 
even of her jewels, Jacqueline contrived to 
borrow money before she left Ghent, as 
appears by a receipt dated two years later 
(February 22, 1427), acknowledging forty- 
four pounds received by Victor de la Faucille 
in return for the sum ''which I lent to my 
said lady when she departed lately from the 

* Comptes de la recette generate de Hainaut. " Hist. Gen. te 
Utrecht," 1851, p. 273. 



Hn iprl0on anb ®ut 157 

city of Ghent." ' With the best aid that a 
few faithful friends could give, it was still 
a frightfully unequal contest into which 
Jacqueline had rashly plunged. To be sure 
Gouda, Oudewater, Dordrecht, Zierikzee, 
and Schoonhoven had all refused homage 
to the new ruward and the Cods had been 
forced to withdraw from the latter city, — 
so much was temporarily in Jacqueline's 
favour. But all the wealth of Burgundy 
was against her, besides her equivocal posi- 
tion in relation to the dukes of Brabant and 
of Gloucester. 

Every effort of her adherents was exerted 
to put a force in the field strong enough to 
dislodge the ruward, while his foothold re- 
mained uncertain. Across the Channel, 
Humphrey had again awakened to interest 
in his wife's cause. His letters promised 
speedy aid, and he was no longer restrained 
by Parliament now that Jacqueline's for- 
tunes seemed brighter. 

Gouda became headquarters for the Hook 

^ Tresorerie des chartes de la chamhre des comptes de Flandre. 
De Potter, p. 123. 



158 a flDeM^pal princeee 

camp and thither Jacqueline went, well 
escorted, after a feast had been offered her 
at Vianen. She proceeded to reassert her 
intermitted sovereign rights and despatched 
letters-patent to all the cities announcing 
her return to her own and asking their 
fidelity and support. 

From his uneasy post at Paris, the Duke of 
Bedford watched these events in the Nether- 
lands with great anxiety. With the wife 
whom Humphrey still recognised, though 
others contested her legal status, importun- 
ing him for aid, it was only too probable 
that he would again rush upon the scene, 
having gained some backing at home, pre- 
cipitate hostilities with the Duke of Bur- 
gundy, force the latter to break his alliance 
with England, and for ever jeopardise the 
chance of the English retaining sovereignty 
in France against the pretentions of the 
Dauphin. Bedford decided to take immedi- 
ate steps to prevent, at least, the scandal of 
the single combat between his brothers 
which had never been formally abandoned. 
To this end, he convened a solemn gather- 



Iln prieon anb ®ut 159 

ing at Paris. Bishops, royal officials, jurists, 
and heralds at arms were assembled. The 
two dukes were summoned to appear before 
this tribunal or court of chivalry. Both 
sent representatives, Humphrey, the Bishop 
of London, and Philip, a very clever diplo- 
mat, the Bishop of Tournay/ These de- 
puties were attended by privy councillors. 
All the voluminous letters exchanged be- 
tween the two princes were brought for- 
ward, examined, and discussed for days. 
Doctors in both laws discussed the matter 
learnedly. The upshot^ of the opinion of 
all these wise men was that honour did not 
require the duel. On his part Humphrey 
was right in his assertions, Philip, too, had a 
certain justice on his side, but princes should 
not risk their reputations and precious lives 
for the sake of an unfortunate word spoken 
in haste. Christian duty demanded that 
the two gentlemen should forget how they 
had wounded each other and should foi-give 
each other in the presence of the assembly. 

' Monstrelet, iv., ii., chap. 36; Cartulaire, iv., p. xlii.; Waurin, 
v., 195, etc. 
^ Given September 22, 1425. 



i6o H flfteMaeval prince60 

The Englishman's friends declared that they 
thought he would accept this advice, but 
the Burgundian's envoys were positive that 
it was quite useless to carry such a message 
to their chief. They declared that he was 
now determined to meet his opponent and 
would not be deterred. With this assertion 
the question was left in abeyance, and as a 
matter of fact no duel was ever fought.^ 

In Holland and Zealand the situation was 
menacing. It was evident that the long 
party strife was about to be put to the test, 
— party strife into which foreign elements 
had now entered. Philip and Jacqueline 
were two striking figureheads, and around 
them as new centres, passions ran high. 
Hereditary hatred was added to new issues. 
Man was ready to fight man on the street, 
broils were incessant and occasionally grew 
into regular skirmishes, long before either 
claimant to authority was ready to pit his 
strength in a formal engagement. 

At the end of September, 1425, Philip's 

* According to Waurin, Philip went into training to prepare for this 
duel. The suit of armour he had made for the occasion was pre- 
served at Lille for many years. La Chronique, v., lib. iii., chap. 41. 



Hn Iprieon a^^ ®ut i6i 

fleet appeared off the coast of Holland. 
There was an effort to prevent his landing, 
but the Hooks were too weak to be efficient. 
Philip was accompanied by some three 
thousand heavy armed men, besides other 
troops. At the outset he did not take the 
offensive, but prepared to make his progress 
in state, from one to another of the usual 
places of homage, as though his right of 
guardianship was unquestioned. In the 
majority of the cities he was received with- 
out protest, and his favours, scattered broad- 
cast, won him many new adherents. 

Jacqueline's party held a triangle of terri- 
tory with the towns Schoonhoven, Oude- 
water, and Gouda at the apices. These 
towns were by no means the most import- 
ant in Holland, but they were well fortified 
by water and dikes, and had good intercom- 
munication with Utrecht, Amersfort, Muy- 
den, and Naarden. There were plenty of 
open channels of communication with North 
Holland, Zealand, and North Brabant, where 
there was individual if not community 
attachment to Jacqueline, for even scattered 



1 62 H fiDebiaeval prlnceee 

through the districts where the majority 
held for Philip, were many who really pre- 
ferred the Countess to a foreign duke. 
Zierikzee, Brill, and other Cod towns, all 
contained numerous sympathisers. Philip's 
material resources were, however, infinitely 
greater than his opponent could possibly 
furnish. Hook nobles might be willing 
enough to impoverish themselves in Jacque- 
line's cause, but even their all was insig- 
nificant. They were buoyed up by the 
constant hope that money and aid would 
come from England, but there was no guar- 
anty of its fulfilment. 

The Hooks were strong in single combat 
and in harrying warfare, and were clever 
in catching the lightest breeze of chance. 
Their greatest deficiency was that they had 
no leaders trained in even such military 
science as then existed. The men fought 
in little groups each close to his chief, and 
their loose ranks were easily broken by the 
firmer attack of the Burgundians. Plenty of 
mercenaries were at the service of any em- 
ployer, but Jacqueline had an empty purse. 



IFn iprleon anb ®ut 163 

Moreover, she possessed no commander 
of a mettle to attract the roving bands 
who preferred serving under famous gen- 
erals. Though there were a number of val- 
iant noblemen in Jacqueline's camp, they 
were totally without the experience of such 
men as John of Luxemburg and others in 
the Burgundian service. 

Six weeks passed after Burgundy had 
landed his forces, without an encounter be- 
tween the foes. Then Philip began offensive 
measures in the region of Leyden. The 
strongest point held by the Hooks was the 
village of Alfen, up the Rhine about a league 
and a half from Leyden. Its situation was of 
peculiar strategic importance, inasmuch as 
it commanded the waterways in several di- 
rections. Philip determined to make him- 
self master of this place, where Jacqueline 
was herself in command. At his first on- 
slaught the Hooks were repulsed, but they 
rallied and made a counter attack so unex- 
pectedly that a sudden panic seized their 
opponents, who broke and fled, hotly pur- 
sued by the victorious Hooks. The latter 



1 64 a flDcMa^val prince60 

actually succeeded in wresting the banners 
from the fugitives. With these flying and 
with other booty in full evidence Jacqueline 
and her little army marched triumphantly 
into Gouda, and the rejoicings over the good 
fortune were long and loud. In the great 
church of Gouda, a Te Deum was sung, while 
the banners of Haarlem, Leyden, and Am- 
sterdam were displayed to the congrega- 
tion. For years the flags remained on the 
walls of the church, and rarely would a 
burgher of the discomfited towns put foot 
within the edifice. As long as a city's ban- 
ners were in hostile hands, similar ones 
could not be used at home. Philip hastened 
to send letters of condolence to the defeated 
cities — these were possibly some compensa- 
tion for losses, as new support for the future 
was promised.^ 

For Jacqueline this victory of October 
2ist, small as were the numbers actually in- 
volved, was of great moment. That she, 
with her slender resources, had succeeded 
in repulsing the Cod party, backed as the 

^ Van Mieris, iv., p. 794. 



tin prison an& ®ut 165 

forces were by the Burgundian power, gave 
her a sudden eclat. Many who had been 
doubtful in choosing sides, many who had 
thought that submission to Philip was wiser 
for the country's weal, now resolved not 
to desert their hereditary lady. The news 
that she was defying the Duke of Burgundy 
was carried over the Channel and quickened 
Humphrey to action. By mid-winter he 
succeeded by hook and by crook in rais- 
ing a body of picked men, which he en- 
trusted to the command of Lord Fitzwater. 
This time the Duke of Burgundy did not 
leave the duty of repulsing the expected at- 
tack to his subordinates. Informed that the 
English would land in Zealand, he hastened 
thither to meet them. He employed the in- 
terim before their coming in taking measures 
calculated to make the burghers feel that his 
friendship and his protection were advan- 
tageous. He confirmed all existing privi- 
leges, offered to repair the dikes, extended 
toll and staple rights, and made good inter- 
state commercial arrangements. 
Some cities continued to resist his author- 



1 66 H fiDebia^val princee^ 

ity, Zierikzee among them, but Dordrecht 
finally yielded and gave homage on Novem- 
ber II, 1425. The Duke took other precau- 
tions than military ones to woo success to 
his side, actually making pilgrimages on foot 
to certain chapels to beg the Virgin's inter- 
cession in his favour. A dire conflict was 
in store for him as all believed, and when a 
monstrous fish was caught off Zealand, its 
extraordinary size was deemed an ominous 
portent of great battles. From his head- 
quarters at Leyden Philip kept a sharp out- 
look on the waterways for more than fish, 
and he succeeded in establishing a boycott 
against the wares of all cities which held to 
Jacqueline. The advent of the Duke of 
Gloucester with his English troops was now 
looked for eagerly by the Hooks. About 
Christmas time several gentlemen from Hol- 
land and Hainaut crossed over to London to 
beg him to make haste. Humphrey was 
not ready to come himself, but his lieuten- 
ant. Lord Fitzwater, with a force of three 
thousand, finally set sail. It was on January 
4th, at two o'clock in the morning, that Philip 



Iln iprieon anb ®ut 167 

of Burgundy was notified that the fleet was 
under way. He hastened to Rotterdam, 
where his own ships were in readiness, 
embarked, and dropped down the Maas. 
From all the cities which had offered hom- 
age, troops journeyed by land and water 
towards his standard. 

Unfortunately for the invaders, the Eng- 
lish boats drew too much water to reach 
the coast. Two ran aground and were 
seized. With lighter ships the allies might 
have gained Zierikzee before the gates were 
shut. Her burghers had declared that they 
were neutral before the battle. After it they 
would choose Burgundians or Englishmen 
according to the result of the day. Possibly 
with the English within their walls, they 
might have been led to an earlier choice. 
The invaders, however, succeeded in occu- 
pying Brouwershaven, a hamlet about six 
miles to the north of Zierikzee, whence 
they expelled the Cods who were within, 
and the village became the headquarters of 
the Hooks who flocked thither from all sides. 

Jacqueline herself with her own troops did 



1 68 a flDe&i^val princeea 

not appear on the scene. A week passed, 
and then the allies decided to proceed to 
Gouda to unite with her before risking an 
encounter with the enemy. A portion of 
the fleet at once weighed anchor, but as 
the pilots were ignorant of the channel they 
encountered difficulties and their ships were 
grounded on the sandbanks. One of Philip's 
generals, Gaesbeck, instantly gathered a small 
squadron of light boats with slight draft 
manned with men who knew the channels. 
Watching for a favourable moment he sailed 
out of the back-waters and fell on the Eng- 
lish boats caught like flies in a trap. They 
tried to fight on foot in the shallows but the 
sand gave way. There was no escape and 
the whole body were carried offto Biervliet as 
prisoners. Meanwhile Philip cruised about, 
fearing to engage in battle on account of the 
inclement weather, but making sure that no 
reinforcement from Jacqueline could come 
down the river. He also took the precau- 
tion of ordering that the Holy Sacrament 
should be carried through the streets of his 
faithful towns and that the blessing of God 



Iln ipri0on anb ®ut 169 

and His saints should be asked on the suc- 
cess of the Burgundians, and that this cere- 
mony should be repeated daily while he was 
holding the English at bay. The delay was 
of great advantage to the neutral folk of 
Zierikzee, who provided both combatants 
with provisions and were well paid on each 
side. 

It was a Saturday, January 13, 1426, 
when the storm cleared and Philip was able 
to bring his fleet into line of battle and pro- 
claim his presence with trumpet, drum, and 
fife. The moment suited him and the Eng- 
lish accepted his challenge. The men on 
land chose a fine vantage ground on top of 
a dike, where there was sufficient room for 
evolutions. 

Well, the chroniclers tell a long story and 
elaborate the minor incidents of the conflict 
— the first instance of an actual encounter 
between the Burgundians and English, allies 
as they were.^ Dynter and his echo, the 

' Barante says that Fitzwater could not engage personally in the 
conflict as he had pledged himself never to fight against the Duke of 
Burgundy. If this were true he was a singular commander to des- 
patch to Jacqueline's aid. 



I70 a flDe&iaeval princeee 

poet of the Brabantsche Yeesten, ignore Jac- 
queline's first triumph at Alfen, but they give 
plenty of space to this day when greater 
honour redounded to the Duke/ How could 
it be otherwise with all his resources and 
with the ground familiar to his Flemings, 
against a young, unskilled woman leader 
forced to depend for her every penny on the 
good will of her followers, whose numbers 
varied with the appearance of her success 
and with the uncertain winds from across the 
Channel ? Nevertheless the struggle was a 
bitter one and the victory only won by a 
hair's breadth. At one moment all chance 
seemed over for the Burgundians. Philip 
himself seized his own standard and plunged 
into the thick of the fight to reanimate his 
men. He was so hard pressed that he would 
have perished had it not been for the timely 
aid of one Jean de Vilain. The Duke's words, 
''Whoever loves me, let him follow, "just as 
all seemed lost, saved the day, according to 
Barante. 

' Dynter, vi., cap. 222. Brabantsche Yeesten, vii., chap. 130. 
Monstrelet, Barante, etc. 



•fln prison anb ®ut 171 

The Burgundians were filled with wrath 
at having been so nearly defeated and 
wreaked their ire upon their captives in 
a sanguinary fashion. Very few of Jacque- 
line's own friends or of those sent over by 
her husband, survived the day. It was an 
overpowering calamity for her and the Hook 
party, while the Burgundian loss was also 
considerable for battles of that time. The 
actual injury was incalculably the heavier 
for Jacqueline's side, because it was suffered 
by burghers and countrymen fighting for 
their own cause on their own horses, not by 
hirelings to be replaced by their own kind, 
who made a living by risking their lives. 

Appointing Roeland van Uutkerke his lieu- 
tenant in Holland, Philip remained in Zea- 
land until that countship was satisfactorily 
reduced to his obedience. He was backed 
in his efforts by letters from John of Brabant 
desiring his loving subjects to obey his dear 
cousin of Burgundy as though it were 
himself 

It must be borne in mind that up to this 
point Philip was simply ruward and heir, 



172 a flDebia^val iprlncee^ 

not Count. The claim was that John of 
Brabant held in behalf of his wife and that 
he had ceded his authority for a certain 
period ''for the sake of peace." ^ Philip's 
attitude, therefore, was that of guardian to- 
wards a rebellious child. John's letters were 
countersigned by various nobles, the Hol- 
land Count of Nassau, the Zealand Lord of 
Borselen, and others. One Borselen perished 
at Brouwershaven, but there were other 
members of this family and Frank van 
Borselen was a staunch supporter of the 
ruward. Zierikzee was the last town to 
submit. On March 15th the burghers gave 
homage and the ruward showed wisdom 
in granting them fairly lenient terms. Be- 
fore Easter, Zealand was entirely under the 
control of Philip, and Jacqueline had lost all 
foothold among the islands. 

* Van Mieris, iv,, p. 817. In some authors twelve years is given, 
in others it is undetermined. 



CHAPTER XI 

The Countess Militant 

I 426- I 428 

CO Fortune answered the appeal to arms 
*^ by allowing each cousin to carry off a 
decided victory. Then followed a dreary 
space of two years, when the active hostil- 
ities, defensive and offensive, inaugurated 
at Alfen and at^Brouwershaven, dragged on 
in Holland, causing infinite misery within a 
small area of territory. There were a few 
sieges, a pitched battle occurred occasionally, 
but as a rule, petty, nagging, guerilla en- 
counters succeeded each other. Divers 
municipal records preserve in their expense 
accounts stray and unconscious revelations 
of events passing during the contention for 
the overlordship.^ There are items of fees 

* Loher, Beitrdge, p. 250. Burgundian writers give little space to 
these wars in Holland, but there are several Dutch chronicles, wherein 
they are discussed in detail worthy of greater events. 

173 



174 H fIDe&teval princeae 



paid to women spies, dry statements of 
piteous petitions for reimbursement for 
forced contributions to both parties, and in- 
numerable evidences of the utter wretched- 
ness experienced within and without the 
city walls. Jacqueline and Philip alike were 
prodigal in their tempting bribes to com- 
munities and to individuals in order to secure 
their recognition, bribes in the form of advan- 
tageous chartered privileges, and of exemp- 
tion from certain specified taxes.^ The lady 
used her seal as lavishly as her guardian, but 
the latter backed his promises with a show of 
hard coin, while those of the penniless ward 
often remained empty words. 

In her personal activity Jacqueline showed 
a tireless energy. She rode fearlessly into 
the field at the head of her own troops, and 
was in the midst of her faithful peasant 
friends in the siege of Haarlem. The chief 
advantage possessed by her was the devo- 
tion of the humbler folk to her cause. Their 
allegiance was unquestioned. In her service 
they were ready to furnish all aid and infor- 

' Van Mieris, iv. , p. 834 et passim. 



ZTbe Counte00 flDilitant 175 

mation possible. At Haarlem the chances 
in favour of the success of her investment 
w^ere based on the hopes that the lower 
classes would revolt against the wealthy 
burghers, declared allies of Burgundy, and 
that a diversion would be created in favour 
of the besiegers. Such a sympathetic move- 
ment within, would have turned the scales to 
the advantage of the force without the walls. 
But the agitation was easily suppressed as 
an insignificant riot, and Haarlem held out. 
Jacqueline's most brilliant success was won 
on the same ground as her first, at Alfen.^ 
Acting on intelligence afforded by a captured 
letter concealed deftly in bread, she surprised 
Jehan van Uutkerke, the stadtholder's son, 
and completely routed his Burgundian forces. 
After this battle, as the story goes, the 
Countess knighted seven of her gallant 
gentlemen with her own hand. The scene 
is depicted in the frescoes at the Munich gal- 
lery, but its actual occurrence has been 
questioned, owing to the improbability of 

' The anonymous history referred to as The Hague Codex contains 
a detailed description of this battle. Loher, Beitrdge, p. 209. 



176 a flDe&ia^val princess 

the capacity of a woman to confer an hon- 
our she could not attain. The formal laws 
of chivalry prevailed at this time almost as 
much as when knighthood was in full flower. 
It is possible, therefore, that Jacqueline had 
to avail herself of the intermediary services 
of a duly qualified deputy to perform the rite 
ex jussu domince^ 

At her hand or at her behest, the recog- 
nition of spirited conduct by the bestowal 
of a dignity was a gracious act on Jacque- 
line's part. Other tales of her exercise 
of authority are less agreeable. Sometimes 
she forfeited friends by a want of tact, by 
undue severity, when leniency would have 
stood her in better stead. That last was a 
fault committed in her maiden campaign 
against her father's foes, and it may be that 
she repeated it at later stages in her career, 
when fact and fiction are so inextricably 
mingled in the stories recounted of her ad- 
ventures that it is difficult to discriminate 
between them. 

' Loher, Beitrdge, p. 94, etc. One instance only is given of knight- 
hood conferred by a woman before 1400. This was in the year 1 1 1 1. 



Zbc Counte90 flDilitant 177 

Not long after the battle of Alfen,when the 
glow of success still flushed the heart of the 
Countess, the following incident is said 
to have happened. One day a certain Jan 
Knuypf, of Hoorn, happened to be in Gouda 
on his own business, where he saw the 
young Countess in the midst of her soldiers, 
a position that seemed to him ill befitted 
to her sex and beauty. He said to a by- 
stander, ''It is a shame to drag such a 
beautiful noble lady around in camps, as 
though she were a vagrant." This remark 
was both casual and sympathetic, but the 
words were twisted and exaggerated in repe- 
tition until they sounded like a gross insult. 
Knuypf was suspected of being a Cod spy, 
as it was declared that no faithful Hook 
man would have spoken in such a man- 
ner of the sovereign lady. Arrested and 
tried for his offence, he was promptly 
condemned to death. At once his father, 
Lambert Knuypf, a well-to-do merchant, 
hastened from Hoorn and offered a 
heavy ransom for his son's life. This was 
refused and he was told that a summary 



178 H flDcMa^val prlnceea 

example was necessary to protect the honour 
of the Countess. At length the father pro- 
posed that for the sake of a public example 
his son should be led to the scaffold, and 
then, just at the last moment, that Jacqueline 
herself should stay the executioner's hand 
at her own instance, and thus show mercy 
where the military necessities of the situa- 
tion demanded severity. This petition was 
accorded to him— at least, he so understood 
it. But when the fatal moment came Jac- 
queline never lifted her hand, and the young 
man's head fell as a terrible expiation of his 
careless phrase. The infuriated and disap- 
pointed father declared that whatever hap- 
pened elsewhere, in Hoorn the Countess 
should never be sovereign. Later, when she 
attempted to bring Hoorn to her allegiance, 
he was among the determined opponents 
who resisted her efforts. Moreover, he aided 
the cause by expending freely the sums he 
had collected for his son's ransom. 

Arnold, or Allaert, Beylinck, the so-called 
Regulus of Holland, is another one whom 
tradition makes a victim to Jacqueline's de- 



Zhc Counte06 flDilitant 179 

termined severity. So firm was his resist- 
ance to her at Schoonhoven, that he was 
condemned to be buried alive, while the 
other captives were pardoned. Submitting 
to his sentence, Beylinck asked and obtained 
a week of respite and of freedom, to regulate 
his affairs. At the expiration of the time 
the reprieved man conscientiously returned 
and suffered the death penalty imposed upon 
him, a penalty ignominious in its nature, be- 
cause usually reserved for women alone.^ 

Whether or not the resentment of the 
elder Knuypf was a factor in the decision of 
the Hoorn burghers, the town certainly de- 
clared for Philip, and Jacqueline's inability 
to reduce it by force weighed against her 
ultimate success. 

During the progress of this unequal strug- 
gle, one natural protector to the weaker 
party might properly have been the Emperor. 
Sigismund, to be sure, had never recognised 
Jacqueline as rightful successor to her father, 
and had never withdrawn his own assertion 

' Loher, Beitrdge, p. 73. Bijdragen, Vaderlandsche Geschiedenis, 
new series, 6 and 7. Robert Fruin's conclusion is that Beylinck was 
executed but that Jacqueline had nothing to do with it. 



i8o H fiDebiaeval iprinceee 

that Holland and Zealand were male fiefs, 
even when his protege, the ex-bishop, ac- 
cepted a ruwardship instead of the count's 
title he first claimed. At the same time, as 
Philip's open intention was to erect a new 
realm for himself, and to sever it from the 
empire, it was hoped that Sigismund might 
be convinced that a weak ward would be 
preferable to the total disappearance of 
the shadow of imperial suzerainty. With a 
shadow there the substance might be re- 
newed. But time proved that the Emperor 
was to have no weight in the balance. He 
neglected the opportunity of making his 
ancient rights felt indirectly. He was totally 
unable to sustain his own renewed claim put 
forward at various epochs after the death of 
John of Bavaria, and was troubled not at all 
about the injustice suffered by the hereditary 
princess, though he might have reaped sub- 
stantial advantage by identifying himself 
with her cause. 

English interest in the fate of the Duchess 
of Gloucester lagged after the defeat at 
Brouwershaven, where the loss had been 



Zhc ConntCQB flDilitant iSi 

so heavy. Numerous proofs exist to show 
the efforts of Bedford and Winchester to 
keep Humphrey from further embroiling 
himself with Burgundy/ Bedford left Paris 
and spent some months in England to watch 
his brother. Still there are scattered evi- 
dences that the latter did not entirely 
abandon efforts to have the validity of his 
marriage settled. That he had legal advisers 
at work is shown in the following letter 
from William Paston to William Worstede 
and others. It is dated March i, a.d. 1426. 
'' A mes tres honnoiires Meistres WilVm 
Worstede, John Langham, et Meistre Piers 
Shelton, soit donne — [some business matters 
of his own]. I have, after the advys of 
your lettre, doon dewely examined the in- 
strument by the wysest 1 coude fynde here 
and in especial by on Maister Robert Sutton 
a courtezane of the Court of Rome, the 
which is the chief and most chier man 
with my Lord of Gloucester, and his matier 
in the said court for my lady his wyff: and 

' See discussions in the Privy Council about actual authority during 
the King's minority. Proceedings, iii., p. 237, etc. 



1 82 H fiDebteval princeea 

their answere is that al this processe, though 
it were in dede proceeded as the instrument 
specifieth, is not suffisant in the laws of 
Holy Churche and that hem semyth by the 
sight of the instrument and by the defautes 
ye espied in the same and other and in 
maner by the knowlich of the notarie that 
the processe in gret part ther of is false and 
untrewe."^ 

During the first year of her active 
campaigns, Jacqueline found her sturdiest 
supporters in Kennemerland, the district 
stretching north of Haarlem where peasant 
proprietorship was in vogue. Here the 
people were full of sympathy for, and de- 
voted to the cause of their hereditary sov- 
ereign and resented the pretensions of one 
who, to their mind, was a Frenchman pure 
and simple and alien to them. But their 
untrained efforts in her behalf were effectu- 
ally crushed by the Burgundians, and the 
punishment meted out to them for their 
temerity was bitter and long enduring. The 
spring of 1427 found Philip occupied in de- 

* Paston Letters, Gairdner's edition, i., p. 24. 



Zbe ConnteeQ flDUitant 183 

termined efforts to root out the spirit of 
opposition to him, while Jacqueline was shut 
into Gouda with a diminished circle of ad- 
herents. 

A new bull of sequestration issued by 
Martin V in 1426 also had some effect in 
chilling enthusiasm in her behalf/ when 
knowledge of it gradually spread abroad. 
This reiterated the statements that Jacque- 
line had violated all laws of duty and equity 
in deserting her husband, John of Brabant, 
and in robbing him of his dues; that she ought 
to return to him, but that the Pope would 
permit her to remain under the protection 
of her kinsman, Amadeus of Savoy, there to 
stay at her own expense until the supreme 
head of the Church pronounced final judg- 
ment on the suit. But there was no notion 
in her own mind of return to her abandoned 
husband. What were the hopes she con- 
tinued to cherish, appears from a piteous 
letter written at Gouda on April 8th to the 
privy council of England.^ It is one of the 

' De Potter, p. 145. Original at Lille. 

' Cartulaire, iv., p. 579. Original at Lille. See also Beitrdge, p. 
219. 



1 84 a flDcM^val prince66 



many documents which followed each other 
to London. She says that in her person 
she is in excellent health, but otherwise 
in great care, fear, danger, and sadness, 
from which she implores the very high, very 
reverend fathers in God to release her. She 
reminds the young king that she held him 
in her arms at the font and that she was 
allied to him by marriage. She begs his 
advisers to urge her husband not to prolong 
her misery by futile messages and embas- 
sies which are her ruin, — but to '' hasten to 
the safety of my seignories." This letter 
was despatched by Louis de Montfort and 
Arnold of Ghent, who are charged to tell 
more by word of mouth. 

Scarcely had these trusty friends and 
counsellors crossed the Channel when all 
question of Jacqueline's return to her quon- 
dam husband was settled for ever by his 
death. 

Here is Dynter's account of the last illness 
of John of Brabant: 

'' In the year of our Lord, 1426, on Wed- 
nesday, April 9th, according to the style of 



Zbc Counteaa flDilttant 185 

the court of Cambray/ John, Duke ot Bra- 
bant, and his brother, Count of St. Pol, 
travelled from Brussels to Lierre to the diet 
of the three Estates of Brabant. The diet 
being concluded, the Duke and his brother 
on Saturday, April 12th, after dinner rode 
toward Brussels. Between Vilvorde and 
Brussels, a severe illness seized him and it 
was with great difficulty that he reached 
Brussels at evening on the same day." The 
narration proceeds to say that the Duke 
grew steadily worse, until Holy Thursday, 
April 17th. He begged his brother to carry 
out the terms of his will, confessed, and re- 
ceived absolution. When these things were 
done he ordered Lord John of Rotselaer, 
Vorselaer, and Reth to wash and wipe the 
feet of thirteen poor persons in his behalf, 
and to give them food and money. '' This 
order scarcely completed, pious Duke John, 
with his arms and hands crossed over his 
breast, began to read the psalm Miserere mei 
Deus, and before he could complete the first 

' Secundum stilum curie Cameracensis, vi,, cap. 226 ; Waurin, v., 
book iv,, ch. i.; Beitr'dge, p. 215. 



1 86 H fiDebia^val princeea 

verse he gave up the ghost. "^ Vinchant 
says that before his death John pardoned 
Jacqueline, — '' par donna tout le tort que la 
comtesse Jacqueline, sa femme luy pouvoit 
avoir fait." It need hardly be said that 
Dynter, the official historian of Brabant, does 
more than justice to John's character and 
claims virtues for him not allowed by his- 
tory. His poetical retainer, too, delares 
that the ''many sweet words" spoken to 
him by his beloved lord are indelibly 
stamped upon his heart. ^ In spite of these 
eulogies, however, it is certain that John 
the Good was weak and vicious. 

Yet his name is identified with one not- 
able institution which reveres him as founder. 
From the year before his death dates the 
existence of the University of Louvain.^ The 
object of establishing this studium generale 
was to provide a place where scholars might 
acquire the learned professions at home in- 

' Vinchant, iv., p. 1 1 1 ; Houart — Historic ecclesiastique et prof aim 
de Hainaut, ii., p. 252 — discredits the details of John's death as given 
by Dynter and others and is inclined to believe that he died from excess 
and dissipation. As usual in sudden death, poison was suspected. 

"^ Author oi Brabantsche Yeesten, vii., chap. 149. 

^Dynter, vi., cap. 223. See Papal Bull, Vinchant, vi., p. 164. 



Zbc Conntcee fllMIitant 187 

stead of wandering abroad to Paris and 
elsewhere. Several cities of Brabant de- 
clined the honour as they feared the unruli- 
ness of a student body. Louvain had lost 
prestige in manufacture and was glad to 
offer inducements to a new class of people 
to come to settle within its walls. Martin 
V accorded the same privileges to the new 
institution as were enjoyed by the universi- 
ties of Padua, of Leipsic, and of Cologne. 




CHAPTER XII 

The Lost Cause 

1428 

A FTER the death of Jacqueline's titular 
^^ husband, in whose name the Duke 
of Burgundy was acting as lieutenant, the 
question of the latter's status in Holland, 
Zealand, and Hainaut became complicated. 
Undaunted by the technical difficulties, 
however, Philip held his ground manfully, 
and declared that Jacqueline was a poor un- 
protected widow in her hereditary lands, 
and that he would kindly continue to ad- 
minister affairs in her behalf. 

In Hainaut he hastened to convene the 
Estates, and found great readiness on their 
part to entrust the administration of the 
government to him, the nearest kinsman of 
the hereditary lady. On June 22d and 23d 



^be %0Bt Cause 189 

he exchanged oaths with his new subjects 
and a charter was duly signed/ The cere- 
mony of homage took place in the Church 
of St. Waltrude, where the young Countess 
of Hainaut had received fealty ten years 
previously. 

This acceptance of her dearest foe did not 
pass without vehement opposition from Jac- 
queline and from her mother. The latter 
had continued her residence in Hainaut dur- 
ing the period of her daughter's adventures 
in the northern provinces. But the protests 
were unavailing, and most of them reached 
their destination after the decision had been 
practically concluded. The question was 
/ threshed out in a council meeting of May 
12th. It was urged that Dame Jacque, 
heiress of these countries, had wrong- 
fully married the Duke of Gloucester dur- 
ing the lifetime of her husband, John of 
Brabant. Further, that the said lady and 
the Duke of Gloucester were cousins in the 

' He made various promises which bound him closer to the Cod 
party. Cartulaire, iv., pp. 589, 602 et passim. The charter is at 
Lille, with one hundred and seventy-two seals of clergy and nobles 
appended. Beitrdge, p. 216. 



I90 a flDcMa^val princeee 

fourth degree, and that in making him her 
heir she was setting aside her next of kin. 
For these and other valid reasons the Duke 
of Burgundy thought that ''our said hered- 
itary lady " ought not to be allowed to remain 
in possession of lands which she proposed 
to alienate, and for the ''great good of the 
said country" he urged that he, should be 
accepted without opposition. He men- 
tioned that an answer could reach him con- 
veniently at Valenciennes on the following 
Sunday. Philip knew how to ensure receiv- 
ing a message to his liking, and the sequel 
has already been anticipated. 

In Mons there was a strong sentiment 
against alienating the government definitely 
from Jacqueline. An assembly extraordinary 
was convened on May 27th to listen to her 
imploring letters and to resolve on the action 
of the capital city.^ After deliberation, the 
voice of the majority declared in favour of 
accepting the protection of Philip, at least 
for the time being. He exercised infinite 

' Cartulaire, iv., p. 593, etc.; Beitrage, ii., pp. 224, 227, etc.; Vin- 
chant, pp. iv , 1 13, 1 14. 




HENRY VI. 
From a painting by Heath, 



^be Xo0t dame 191 

tact in winning over the people to his side, 
and there seems to have been a strong press- 
ure of public opinion which affected official 
action. 

Meanwhile Jacqueline's appeals to England 
were almost unceasing. In the act wherein 
Philip was recognised by the Estates as 
Mambour or governor of Hainaut and heir to 
the lady and princess, dame facque de Bavier, 
duchesse et contesse des di:{ pais, it is ex- 
pressly stated that this condition is to last 
only until the lady disavows her marriage 
with the Duke of Gloucester.^ But in the 
epistles showered on King, on privy coun- 
cil, on Humphrey, and on Bedford, Jacqueline 
ostentatiously puts her English title first in 
her signature and evinces not the slightest 
inclination to abandon her position as mem- 
ber of the royal family. In a letter of 
May 7th, ^ she recapitulates her story, plain- 
tively declaring that she went to England 
at the request of Henry V, and that he not 

' Cariulaire, iv., p. 602. In all informal reference to her, " Duchess 
of Gloucester " seems to be the title used. 

* Lobar places this in 1427. Beitrage, p. 224. It would fit in better 
at an earlier date, because there is so much reference to the stay at Ghent. 



192 a flDebia^val princeas 

only promised her aid as a kinsman, but 
that as specialis et phis pater he pledged 
himself to give her paternal and faithful as- 
sistance in all her affairs. More than that 
she asserts that the late king, after taking 
the advice of his council, had himself be- 
trothed her to his brother, the Duke of 
Gloucester/ In answer to a letter urging 
her to make a truce with the Duke of Bur- 
gundy, she responds, nominally, to Henry 
VI, with an emphatic statement that even to 
avoid the effusion of Christian blood she 
cannot now consent to make peace with 
the cousin ''who counts on ousting me 
from my heritage." Passionately does she 
wish that the late king ''had remained in 
human life," in which case "I know in 
truth that my affairs would not have come 
to the sorry state in which they are." 

Ten days later she despatches her private 
secretary, Grenier, to the privy council 
with another letter. " I as a sorrowing 

^*' . . . idem serenissimus rex . . . invocavit nobis in 
futurum conthoralem prcestantissimum suum fratrem, dominum 
nostrum ducem Gloucestrie.^^ Loher says that the drafts of the English 
advices were often submitted to the Duke of Burgundy. 



Zhc %05t Cau9e 193 

woman discomforted, left to endure mis- 
eries, to suffer the poverty and oppression 
which I have borne so long a time without 
aid or comfort, 1 recommend myself to your 
reverences," etc., etc. Again she reiterates 
the terms of the express promise of the late 
good king. How hard, when after his 
death she had allied herselfwith his brother, 
that she should find herself ' ' to-day despised 
and condemned by the whole world and 
like a dame refusee deprived of all comfort 
and counsel." She implores the gentlemen 
to urge her dear brother, the regent, and 
her lord and husband [no adjective of affec- 
tion this time] to aid her. '' Weary, griev- 
ing, 1 am left to wonder why God summoned 
my father to his company so early, leaving 
such a noble heritage to me, his daughter, 
once a happy child, and now condemned to 
lose my all through default of justice." Her 
near kinsmen are her deadly foes and she 
knows not which way to turn.^ With this 
letter is a draft of what Jean Grenier is to say 
further to the council and the account he is 

^ Beitrage, pp. 227, 231. 



194 H flDcMa^val princese 

to give of the events since the death of the 
Duke of Brabant, and of the arrogant preten- 
sions of the Duke of Burgundy — how he 
insists that Jacqueline must disavow her legal 
marriage with Gloucester and renounce 
everything. Never on her life would she 
agree to such a treaty except by the advice 
of her lord duke and of the realm., unless 
indeed she were forced to it, was the burden 
other argument. 

There is a bitterer tone in this epistle than 
in former despatches. In her demands as 
to whether the English messenger ' who 
came to her in a very dilatory fashion, had 
really conscientiously represented her cir- 
cumstances to the King, in her queries as to 
what Bedford and Burgundy discussed at 
their late meeting in Lille, and as to why no 
army is being levied for her, there is a note 
of despair and desolation, a note that, ap- 
parently, was not uttered in vain. For, on 
July 9, 1427, a decree was issued in the 
name of Henry VI, declaring that in con- 
sideration of the great troubles, dangers, 
adversities, and distresses which had been 



tlbe ILoat Cauee 195 

sustained by the Duchess of Gloucester/ 
'' our very dear aunt," because of the affec- 
tion borne her by the King, and on account 
of the numerous petitions made to the 
council by the Duke of Gloucester and by 
his said Duchess, and in virtue of the 
recommendation made by the Commons 
in the last Parliament at Westminster, 
he had decided to provide for the said Duke 
the amount of twenty thousand marks — 
namely : nine thousand by way of loan, 
five thousand '' on account of said personal 
recommendation of our uncle," and four 
thousand out of eight thousand which he 
received yearly as protector of the realm 
during the absence of the Duke of Bedford, 
and two thousand from other sources ;— the 
said sum was to be expended in the wages 
of men-at-arms to be sent into Holland to 
garrison the towns and places obedient to 
the said Duke and Duchess, and to escort 
the latter to England. No offensive opera- 
tions were to be undertaken. The soldiers 

^ Rymer's Fcsdera, x., p. 374; Van Mieris, iv., p. 894. Proceed- 
ings of the Privy Council, iii., pp. xlviii., 271. 



196 a fll>ebte\>al princeee 

remaining in garrison were not to attempt 
any further conquest in Holland, Zealand, or 
Hainaut, without the consent of the three 
estates of England. The loan of nine thou- 
sand marks was to be raised out of the sub- 
sidies and customs, from the revenues of 
the Duchy of Lancaster, and the profits 
arising from wardships and marriages. Arti- 
cles were to be signed by the King and the 
Duke of Gloucester containing the covenants 
above specified. 

But among the privy councillors them- 
selves there is doubt as to the wisdom of 
this action. Two days later (July nth) 
they write to the Duke of Bedford explain- 
ing that they were forced to it by public 
opinion, that the people declared that they 
could not answer to God, to the world, 
nor to the Lord and Lady of Gloucester, if 
they did not do all in their power to fur- 
nish her with aid in this dire crisis. They 
prayed Bedford straightway to ask his 
brother of Burgundy to redress Jacqueline's 
wrongs.^ 

* Beitrdge, p. 236, etc. 



Zbc Xo9t Cauee 197 

How did Bedford answer this appeal ? He 
concluded a truce with all possible rapidity 
and neglected no means of retaining his 
brother in England! He urged Humphrey, 
for God's sake, not to imperil his nephew's 
French kingdom. His strife with Philip 
was ardently desired by England's foes. 
He must give the minor king reckoning 
in the future if he injured him in his min- 
ority. 

To the privy council, Bedford wrote on 
July 31st in still more urgent phrases. Philip 
was well inclined to peace and would gladly 
strike a truce for a year and a day if '' the 
other party would but consent." He, Bed- 
ford, certainly could not think of asking 
Philip to abstain from war. It was plain 
that the question of the validity of Jacque- 
line's marriage rested with the Pope, and 
that of her heritage with the Emperor. In 
both cases was the English king free from all 
responsibility. Both were beyond his juris- 
diction. The complaints of a sister-in- 
law must not be allowed "to imperii the 

' Beitrage, p. 240. 



198 a flDcM^val lprince00 

welfare of our kingdom. " So anxious is the 
regent of France to reach the ear of the 
English council, that not only does he de- 
spatch this letter to the council collectively, 
but transcripts are sent post-haste to each 
of the councillors individually, as the coun- 
cil was not in session. 

Four of Bedford's trusty gentlemen also 
hasten over the Channel to add verbal argu- 
ments to enforce his written words. All this 
was sufficient to stay, at least, the speedy de- 
spatch of the promised supplies for defensive 
operations, and Jacqueline continued her pa- 
thetic struggle on her own meagre resources. 
There was valour in her camp, but little else. 
Her faithful friend Brederode had succeeded 
in holding Texel against heavy odds. He had 
almost gained Wieringen when unfortun- 
ately he fell into Burgundian hands and was 
taken to Leyden, a prisoner. At this point, 
the approach of winter rendered actual fight- 
ing impossible. Philip withdrew to Flan- 
ders ' and awaited the coming of spring. 

' Itineraire de Philippe le bon. Col. de voyages etc, Gachard, i., 
p. 79. 



Zbc %oet Cause 199 

Meantime, another of Jacqueline's kinsmen 
had busied himself with her divorce suit, a 
kinsman upon whom, too, she had based 
some illusory hopes of support. Philip, 
Count of St. Pol, the new Duke of Brabant, 
now comes upon the scene. Out of respect 
to the memory of his late brother, he sends 
a fresh embassy to Rome. Who knows 
what other entreaties also found their way 
thither? In France there were waves of sen- 
timent in favour of the uncrowned king at 
Bourges, the disinherited Dauphin. The 
regent of Henry VI at Paris grew more and 
more uneasy, and probably both he and 
Philip intimated to their friends in Rome 
that nothing would please them better than 
a Papal sentence that would definitely de- 
prive the Countess of Holland of any legal 
claim to English sympathy, a sympathy that 
was increasingly dangerous to France as an 
English dependency. 

Martin V allowed himself to be per- 
suaded. On January 9, 1428, the ultimate 
decision of the Papal court upon this cause 
ceUbre was published. It is unequivocal in 



200 a flDebia^val princeae 

its terms. The validity of the marriage be- 
tween John of Brabant and Jacqueline is 
reaffirmed and any other union contracted by 
the latter is declared null and void, — nullius 
roboris vel moment i.' Gloucester is not 
mentioned by name. Jacqueline's repre- 
sentatives in Rome immediately filed an ap- 
peal against this decision on the very day of 
its publication.^ It was addressed to the 
Cardinal of Bologna and proved a futile 
attempt to stay proceedings. The parties 
pleased by the decision were strong enough 
to prevent any further tampering with it 
when once pronounced. 

The intrigues of those months may be in- 
ferred. The difference in tone of Jacqueline's 
letters to Humphrey in 1425, and her refer- 
ences to him in those of two years later al- 
ready quoted, is significant. She knew that 
he had no desire to return to Holland or to 
her. The Duke had failed to join the wife 
whom he and all England recognised as legal 
Duchess of Gloucester, under the influence, 
not only of political considerations, but of 

* Dynter, vi., cap. 231. "^ Van Mieris, iv., p. 917. 




HUMPHREY, DUKE OF GLOUCESTER. 



ZTbe Xo6t Cause 201 

the wiles and fascinations of another woman. 
From the hour when Humphrey had left 
Jacqueline in "our false and treacherous city 
of Mons," Eleanor Cobham had been his 
companion and mistress, and it is probable 
that she was encouraged by various persons 
in authority to exert all her charms to keep 
her lover at her side. Nay, it is said that she 
exerted other charms than her own. Acer- 
tain Marjory Jordan, known as the witch of 
Eye, furnished her with a love potion which 
filled Humphrey's mind with thoughts of 
her and none other. Artificial means were, 
however, little needed. She evidently 
possessed adequate fascinations without 
employing magic arts. '' Being a woman I 
will not be slack to play my part in Fortune's 
pageant " was a natural thought on her part 
at this stage in her career, as well as at the 
moment when the poet puts the words into 
her mouth. ^ 

She was ''a woman distinguished in her 
form," says y^neas Sylvius. " Eleanor, too, 
was beautiful and marvellously pleasant," 

' Shakespeare, Henry l^I, Part II, Act i, sc. ii. 



202 a flDcMa^val princess 

says Waurin.^ The ''too " (aussi) may refer 
to Jacqueline, who certainly may not have 
been ''marvellously pleasant" when her 
affairs were going so drearily against her 
wishs Actual testimony is, to be sure, want- 
ing to prove that Winchester and Bedford 
used Eleanor as a tool to work an end de- 
manded by the exigencies of English foreign 
policy, but everything points to the suspi- 
cion that such was the case, and that the 
two were anxious to "buz these conjura- 
tions " in the brain of an ambitious woman, 
"knowing dame Eleanor's aspiring hu- 
mour."^ 

When it was evident that Humphrey was 
released by the Papal decree from his con- 
tested marriage ties, it was perfectly natural 
that Eleanor Cobham should have been 
more than willing tg intrigue in her own 
behalf to urge the Duke to give her his rank. 

His delay in going to Jacqueline, the pos- 
sible rumour of his intentions to accept his 

' Aleanor aussi etait belle et plaisante a merveilles. Cronique, v. 
Hi., chap. 37. Beitrdge, p. 273. Mulier ex militantihus forma 
pr^stans. /Eneas Sylvius. 

^ Henry VI, Part II, Act i, sc. ii. 



ZTbe Xo0t Cauee 203 

divorce as final, aroused considerable indig- 
nation in London, and caused one notable 
effort in behalf of the deserted wife, if we 
may believe a strange story given in the 
records of the unknown monk of St. Albans.^ 
He tells how a woman from the market, 
accompanied by several other women of 
London suitably dressed, publicly brought a 
petition to the Duke of Gloucester and other 
lords in Parliament. The tenor of this docu- 
ment was a complaint that the Duke did not 
deliver his wife from the durance in which 
she was held by the Duke of Burgundy, 
but, that with his love grown cold, he kept 
by him publicly a woman of ill fame, to the 
ruin of the realm and to the prejudice of the 
married state. The monk or some one else 
inserts an incredulous vacat in the margin 
to show a disbelief in the report, even while 
he gives it for what it is worth. In Stow's 
hands the story becomes firmer. The mar- 
ket-place, Stokkes,^ is metamorphosed into 

^ Chronicon rerum gestarum, etc., in Amundesham, i., p. 20. 

' The market on the site of the present Mansion House was called 
thus from the stocks which stood there. See also Stubbs, Constitu- 
tiorml Hist., iii., p. 106. 



204 H flDcbia^val princeee 

the name of the adventurous dame who led 
the petitioners: 

'' In this Parliament [1428] there was one 
Mistris Stokes with divers other stout women 
of London, of good reckoning, well appar- 
relled came openly to the upper Parliament 
and delivered letters to the Duke of Glouces- 
ter and to the Archbishops and to the other 
Lords there present containing matter of 
rebuke and sharpe reprehension of the 
Duke of Gloucester, because he would 
not deliver his wife Jacqueline out of her 
grievous imprisonment, being then helde 
prisoner by the Duke of Burgundy, suffering 
her to remaine so unkindly, and for his public 
keeping by him another adulteresse, contrary 
to the law of God and the honourable estate 
of matrimony : but what good successe their 
labours toke my Author reporteth not."^ 

If this petition were indeed presented it 
was as futile as the appeal at Rome and the 

' Annales, or a General Chronicle of England, begun by John Stow, 
continued by . . . Edmund Howes, Gent., London, 1631, folio, 
p. 369. The marginal note is: ** A crew of stout dames tries to check 
a great duke in open parliament." See also Southey, yo^« of Arc, i.i 
p. 225; Beitrage, p. 276, 



ZCbe Xo6t Cauae 205 

energetic market women might have spared 
themselves the trouble. The possible date 
of their effort is uncertain. As late as May 
1 8th, the title of "our dear aunt Duchess 
of Gloucester" is applied to Jacqueline in a 
letter of safe conduct for her faithful adher- 
ent Arnold of Ghent, who is bringing her 
supplies.^ In a document of June loth it is 
omitted. It may be inferred that Hum- 
phrey's marriage to Eleanor Cobham took 
place after the petition, whenever that was, 
sometime after May i8th and before June 
10, 1428. That a legal marriage was actu- 
ally celebrated is, however, authentic, and 
undoubtedly this patently undesirable alli- 
ance for a prince of the blood, was furthered 
and sanctioned by his episcopal uncle and 
by his regent brother. The latter preferred 
a sister-in-law of doubtful reputation, to the 
risk of further embroglios with the Duke 
of Burgundy, whose friendship was becom- 
ing more and more necessary unless Eng- 
land were to lose for ever what had been 
gained by the Treaty of Troyes. 

Wan Mieris, iv,, p. 912. 



2o6 H fiDeM^val lprince66 

Our author Waurin accompanied the Bur- 
gundian army when it returned to Gouda to 
complete the conquest.^ This eye-witness 
comments on the fact that Jacqueline had 
succeeded in holding out so long at such 
terrible odds. But her power of endurance 
was finally at an end. The accumulation 
of misfortunes was overwhelming. There 
was pitifully little chance of any further suc- 
cess. The ''grievous imprisonment" men- 
tioned in ''Mistress Stokes's" petition may 
refer to the fact that Jacqueline was pent up 
in Gouda, almost her very last stronghold. 
Everything combined to make her consent 
to a consideration of peace at any price. 

The negotiations, opened at Bruges and 
continued at Delft, came to a rapid conclu- 
sion, and on June 29, 1428, Jacqueline, mag- 
nificently received in the latter city by her 
cousin Philip, signed a three weeks' truce. 
Four days later a treaty was concluded 
which comprised the following provisions^ : 

I. Jacqueline must acknowledge her ac- 

^ Moi acieur de ceste ceuvre estois en la compagnie de monseigneur Le 
Borgneetc. Cronique, v., lib. iv., chap. 3. ^ Van Mieris, iv., p. 917. 



Zbe %OBt Cmec 207 

quiescence in the Papal decision about the 
legality of her marriage by notarial act. 
She must withdraw her appeal made on 
January 9th. 

2. Philip of Burgundy recognised *'his 
dear cousin " Jacqueline of Bavaria as Count- 
ess of Hainaut, Holland, and Friesland, and 
she acknowledged him as lawful heir and 
present ruward or regent of the countships. 
Both should again receive homage from 
cities and nobles in their new roles. 

3. Philip should conduct the administra- 
tion over the aforesaid provinces until Jacque- 
line married again with the consent of her 
mother, of the Duke, and of the Estates of 
her lands. If she married without the know- 
ledge, counsel, and approval of the above 
named, her subjects should be released from 
all obedience to her or her husband and 
henceforth should owe obedience only to 
the Duke of Burgundy as ruward and heir. 

4. As to the aids, two thirds should 
henceforth serve for the settlement of old 
debts, and the remaining third should be 
divided between Philip and Jacqueline. The 



2o8 a flDcMaeval prlnceaa 

remaining revenues, after the payment of 
official salaries and expenses, should belong 
to Jacqueline. 

5. The fiefs of the countships were to be 
retained by Jacqueline. The fief lords must, 
however, also swear fidelity to Duke Philip. 

6. Public affairs in Holland, Zealand, and 
Friesland were to be entrusted to a council 
of nine people, three nominated by Jacque- 
line, six by Philip, who should also appoint 
all officials in the countship of Hainaut. 

7. The rival claims to the private estate of 
John of Bavaria should be settled by eight 
good men. 

8. Exiles and refugees of both parties 
should be free to return and all injuries on 
both sides made good. All persons known 
to be implicated in the death of John of Bava- 
ria were excepted from this provision. 

9. There must be no further interchange of 
obnoxious party recrimination. The words 
" Hook " and '' Cod " were to be spoken no 
more. 

Such were the chief provisions of the treaty 
made to the honour of God, of His blessed 




StAL APPENDED TO TREATY OF DELFT. 
July 3d, 1428. 



ZTbe X09t Cauee 209 

mother, and of all saints male and female in 
heaven, and sworn to on the Holy Gospel 
by Philip of Burgundy and Jacqueline of 
Bavaria, by virtue of their Christian truth 
and princely honour. 

On the same day Jacqueline also signed a 
specific act recognising her cousin as heir in 
case of her death without children, which 
she did ''to prevent any feud, contest, or 
war after our death to the ruin of our lands, 
people, and subjects." The original docu- 
ment is still at Lille. Jacqueline's seal at- 
tached to this act shows the Virgin holding 
the infant Jesus on her right arm and a palm 
branch in her left hand. A shield bearing 
Jacqueline's arms is supported by two lions 
rampant. The whole is enclosed in a hedge. ^ 

Shortly after the settlement Jacqueline's 
mother arrived in Delft and confirmed the 
treaty on oath. It may be added that she 
then took the occasion to obtain new gifts 
from her daughter. 

The proceedings were concluded by a 
joint progress made in great state by the 

* Van Mieris, iv,, p. 922. 



2 TO a nDei)fe\>al iprinceee 

late combatants from city to city. This be- 
gan in mid-August. Every one swore to 
support Philip against all who infringed the 
rights ceded to him by Jacqueline. When 
affairs were established in Holland and Zea- 
land according to the ruward's pleasure, he 
took measures to have his position con- 
firmed anew in Hainaut. On Sunday, Sep- 
tember 1 2th, the Duke and the Lady were 
formally received in Mons, and on the fol- 
lowing day the Delft treaty was read aloud 
in St. Waltrude's Church. In her shadowy 
role of hereditary princess Jacqueline enjoyed 
the precedence in taking the oath and Philip 
followed in his capacity of affectionate guard- 
ian. This ceremonial was repeated in the 
other cities of Hainaut, and then the de- 
posed Countess and her sovereign governor 
returned to Mons, where a gorgeous series 
of fetes and tournaments were celebrated. 
In addition, there were hunting parties on a 
magnificent scale, ''greater joy to the prin- 
cess than to the peasants," over whose 
grounds the former rode. These lasted 
until midwinter. 



Zhc l06t Cauee 211 

Perhaps it was the magnificence displayed 
at these feasts of reconciliation that incited 
a certain Carmelite monk just then, to make 
attacks on luxury and eccentricities in dress 
to which fine ladies were addicted.^ Espe- 
cially severe was he on the pointed head- 
dresses, and the noble ladies who thronged 
to his sermons were moved to abandon their 
finery and to appear in simple garb. '' And 
God knows, "says the Seigneur de St. Remy, 
commenting on the fine and stately festivities 
of which he was an eye-witness,^ ''what 
joy the Duke and Duchess made together, 
and none would have suspected in what bit- 
ter warfare they had been engaged." It was 
an unswerving feature of Philip's policy to be 
conciliating when it was possible, and in all 
this recital it is evident that Jacqueline was 
well and honourably treated. It is difficult 
to reconcile her part in these gay scenes, 
where were present all the nobles who had 
fought against her party, with her own plain- 
tive statements of her misery in her letters 

^ Cartulaire, v., p. 5, etc. Monstrelet, iv,, ii,, chap. 55. 
^ Chronique, ii., ch. 156. 



212 



a flDeMa^val prlnceee 



of a few months previous. There is no ac- 
count of her own feelings, but there are 
abundant records to show how she used her 
dearly acquired income in pensions and re- 
wards to the followers of her lost cause, and 
how she endeavoured to make good what 
they had risked in her behalf.^ 

* Codex Dip. (Hist. Genoot. te Utrecht 1852), p. 250. 




CHAPTER XIII 
The Silent Partner 

1428-1433 

pHILIP'S victory was thus pleasantly 
* sealed with the kiss of friendship and 
Jacqueline had a plum, a cherry, and a fig in 
return for her provinces. To be sure, for a 
brief space, feudal supremacy seemed to 
be shared, not renounced, and supported 
by the administrative joint council of nine, 
wherein sat the representatives of hered- 
itary countess and of present ruward. But 
only a few months elapsed before another 
adjustment was made. In a compact of 
January 24, 1429, Jacqueline comipounded 
her share of the revenues for a fixed income 
of sixteen thousand crowns, the council of 
nine was abandoned, and Philip relieved his 
cousin of a still greater share of the bur- 
dens of life and of government. 

213 



214 a flDebla^pal princeea 

It is touching to read in the preamble of 
the new treaty the reasons for the speedy 
change of base. The Duke was distressed 
that *'our dear beloved sister" had not 
sufficient means from the uncertain income 
of the taxes to maintain her state. This 
conclusion was reached at about Christ- 
mas time when the two cousins met at 
Valenciennes/ and the formal document 
was signed a few weeks later. In addition 
to the pledged income, Philip assumed the 
responsibility for the repair of all the re- 
sidences at Jacqueline's disposal. Her right 
to hunt where she would was expressly 
confirmed, together with certain feudal 
licenses, and the portraits of Duke and 
Countess were to appear on the coins. 

The politic Philip continued his even and 
uniform system of treating his conquered 
foe with ostentatious legality and a brave 
show of courteous consideration, while he 
was edging her off her own ground with a 

^ Van Mieris, iv., p. 942. A series of documents pertaining to gifts 
and revenues were also signed at this time. Cartulaire, v., p. 61 et 
seq.; Thes. rek. p. 70 in the royal archives, quoted by Blok, Bijdra- 

gen, 188=5, p. 3»9 etc. 



Zbc Silent partner 215 

succession of well directed shoves. He was 
full of cousinly love, was the good Duke of 
Burgundy, and he manifested his amity not 
only towards the Lady of Holland, but also 
towards his other childless relative, the Lord 
of Brabant, whom he honoured by a visit 
to Brussels in January where he enjoyed a 
series of fetes, brilliant in spite of an un- 
toward fall of snow and hail.^ 

With the spring he returned to France. 
This was the time when English sovereignty 
had received a rude shock, and his brother 
of Bedford was hard pressed to hold the 
French realm in behalf of his nephew. The 
troops levied for Jacqueline's service in 1418, 
had been taken by Salisbury to Orleans, 
which the English were preparing to be- 
siege, to the consternation of the good 
burghers, who appealed to the Duke of 
Burgundy for aid to maintain a neutrality 
that had been promised them on account 
of the detention of their own Duke in Eng- 
land. It was at their request that Philip hast- 
ened to Paris in April. For a brief space he 

' Monstielet, iv. ii., chap. 54, 



2i6 a flDcMaeval princeee 

coquetted with both parties. The English 
regent felt that his brother-in-law's inlluence 
was of growing weight in turning the scale 
between English and French dominance, 
and exerted himself to retain his alliance. 
The persuasions of Bedford and his Duchess 
finally won the day and, though Philip's 
April visit was without result, when he 
again visited Paris in July there was a fresh 
crop of pledges of friendship with England, 
while his undying enmity towards the 
Dauphin, on account of his father's murder, 
was reaffirmed and proclaimed. 

By that date, too, the siege of Orleans had 
been raised by the new leader who had sud- 
denly appeared to espouse the cause of the 
uncrowned French King. Thus far the peas- 
ant girl was victorious against the same for- 
midable alliance of opponents to which the 
princess had been forced to yield. What a 
pity it is that no record gives a hint of 
Jacqueline's opinion about Jeanne d'Arc ! 
Probably she thought that actions meet for 
a sovereign defending her heritage were 
quite unmeet for the peasant, and probably, 



ZEbe Silent partner 217 

too, she would have been no more compli- 
mentary in her adjectives than were the 
English about the arrogance of an un- 
trained girl who dared enter the lists with 
men. 

During the period of Jeanne d'Arc's as- 
cendency in France, in the summer of 1429, 
Jacqueline remained in Hainaut, but in the 
following winter she took up her abode in 
Holland. Hainaut undoubtedly found it 
burdensome to maintain her state and was 
willing that she should carry it elsewhere. 
In February, 1430, the Estates voted to give 
her six thousand pounds Tournois, to pay 
her travelling expenses to The Hague. On 
Monday, May 29th, the council at Mons lis- 
ten to a report from three deputies on their 
return from an assembly of the Estates, 
where a discussion had taken place about 
assuming all the charges of the Countess. 
The question was decided in the nega- 
tive. 

From The Hague, Jacqueline despatches 
several letters about the beds she had es- 
tablished in the new Hospital St. Jacques at 



2i8 H flDcM^val prince66 

Valenciennes, and on various other topics.^ 
She provides in her '' bouwerie " at The 
Hague for one Philip, the son of Claes, 
who has served her well ; she makes a fine 
donation to Arent of Ghent, and lesser gifts 
to other faithful followers. Philip duly con- 
firms these promises as well as other docu- 
ments. A gift to a certain Jan Ruyschrock 
is interesting because it is a charge on the 
rent of the two Lombard houses at Zierik- 
zee. If the tenants be behindhand, Jacque- 
line orders the schout and schepen to forbid 
the Lombards holding feasts, nay, more, they 
were to be restrained from trading within 
the city until the rent were forthcoming. 
By the date of this last document, the Duke 
of Burgundy had removed Uutkerke from 
his office as stadtholder of Holland and Zea- 
land, and put the Zealander, Frank van 
Borselen, in his stead, though under differ- 
ent and rather peculiar conditions. Frank 
van Borselen, of St. Martensdijk, and his 
two cousins, Philip of Cortgene, and John 

' Cartulaire, v., preface, p. iii., p. i lo. Van Mieris, iv., p. 972 et 
passim. 



Zbc Silent partner 219 

of Soutberg, were not only entrusted with 
the administration of Holland and Zealand, 
but, in consideration of the payment of 
fifteen thousand crowns, they were to col- 
lect and enjoy the taxes. A commission 
was given to them for eight years, and an 
important article was inserted in the com- 
pact, expressly releasing them from the ob- 
ligation of accounting for the details of 
their administration. Philip retained cer- 
tain sovereign rights and Jacqueline, her 
titles. In November, Frank van Borselen 
assumed the designation of governor. He 
was in truth a farmer of the revenue and 
empowered to make as much as possible 
in order to reimburse himself for necessary 
expenditures.^ 

At this time Lord Frank was about forty, 
a well built, fine looking man, if we may 
trust the chroniclers— whose statements 
need many grains of salt. The Borselens 

' " De Eerste Jaren der Bourgondische Heerschappij van Holland," 
1428-1434 by Dr. P.J. Blok, Bijdragen, 1885, p. 327, Jacqueline's 
confirmation of this appointment to **our dear true Lord Frank" is 
dated January 19, 1430, o. s. (1431). The cousins' names are given 
without endearing adjectives. There is no mention of the farmed 
revenues. Codex Dip. ^ 1852, p. 138. 



2 20 a flDcMa^val princeee 

were said to have descended from a noble 
family of Suabia. By the thirteenth cent- 
ury, however, they were established in 
Zealand and their estates were among the 
most important on those flat islands which 
offered none of the picturesque sites for 
medieval castles afforded in German val- 
leys. 

Jacqueline possessed a hunting seat in 
Zealand, — Ostende, in the neighbourhood of 
Goes. This had been a favourite town of 
Count William VI. To him it owed its first 
charter, and his daughter had added to its 
municipal privileges when she received her 
first homage in 141 7. In return, the town 
had presented her with a box containing six 
hundred gold pieces. 

As the story goes, when the Countess 
was in residence at Ostende shortly after 
her abdication, she honoured the citizens of 
Goes by her presence at one of the archery 
festivals. More than that, she joined in a 
shooting match, hit the wooden parrot, won 
the prize amid admiring acclamations of the 
crowd, and was made queen of the day ac- 




THE COUNTESS AT AN ARCHERY FESTIVAL. 



ZTbe Silent partner 221 

cording to usage. Bilderdijk refers to this 
tale as a proof of Jacqueline's low tastes and 
unbecoming readiness to mix with vulgar 
sports^— hardly a fair interpretation of an 
act which also might be termed complaisant 
condescension on the part of a gracious lady 
wishing to be on friendly terms with her 
humble neighbours. 

In memory of her success, she founded a 
new archery gild dedicated to St. George, 
— a strange choice! One might think that 
no saint in the calendar could be quite so 
distasteful to Jacqueline as the patron of 
Duke Humphrey of Gloucester. But possi- 
bly it was her father's predilection for St. 
George that she remembered. 

It was during the hunting season when 
the Countess and Lord Frank were both in 
their Zealand homes that opportunity was 
afforded to the former to overcome her en- 
mity to the Cod noble who had been so 
long in the field against her, and at last 
a valuable service rendered by Lord Frank 
bridged the chasm between the former foes. 

' Bilderdijk, iv., p. 1 14. 



2 22 H fiDcMaeval princeae 

One day it happened that the Dowager 
Margaret sent gifts of jewels and horses to 
Jacqueline, not by lackeys but by a goodly 
company of gentlemen, and, in accordance 
with the custom, it was obligatory for 
Jacqueline to give the messengers presents 
proportionate to the value of those they 
brought. The income arranged by Philip 
with the especial aim of enabling his dear 
cousin to live in due luxury apparently fell 
short of her needs. At this moment she 
had no money at her command and she 
could not let her mother's gentlemen go 
empty handed away.' 

Secretly she despatched a message to the 
Lord of Montfort, her own former stadt- 
holder of Holland, asking for a loan, but he 
answered that he had spent all he could 
afford in her service. This was unkind, be- 
cause if rumour told the truth, he was still 
fairly rich, as he had appropriated much of 
the late Count's treasure and jewels. Her 
next appeal was to the Lord of Wassenaer, 
another Hook noble, who also refused her 

^ Codex Tegernseer, p. 26. 



Z\)c Silent partner 223 

rather curtly. " Then," says Le Petit, '' she 
went weeping to her chamber bewailing 
the ingratitude of her friends and servants 
and the shame of allowing her mother's 
people to depart with empty hands. "^ 

Sympathising with her embarrassment, her 
faithful steward, William de Bye, suggested 
that it would be better to ask a loan from 
Lord Frank van Borselen rather than to con- 
fess poverty and fall short in the demands 
of courtesy. Lord Frank must have had a 
reputation both for wealth and for kindness, 
— or at least for being open hearted to wo- 
men in distress, for there are records of 
large sums lent to Elizabeth of Gorlitz, the 
ex-bishop's widow, at an earlier date than 
this. The suggestion did not please Jacque- 
line. '' He is a foe. We have wrought no 
good to him or his." De Bye urged her to 
overcome her reluctance and offered to ne- 
gotiate the matter delicately. At last the 
poverty-stricken lady yielded to his persua- 
sions. According to Le Petit, Bye then rode 

^ La Grande Chronique, i., 384. See also, Reygersherg Chron., 
Part II., p. 200. 



2 24 a ADeMa^val princess 

off to St. Martensdijk where he fulfilled 
the commission ''mannerly and properly" 
— as well as successfully. ''Carry this 
casket," said the noble lord, "to thy lady 
and bid her take therefrom what she needs. 
Tell her 1 ask this as a favour, and I shall 
count any future petitions from her as bene- 
fits to me." 

How Joyous was the faithful William de 
Bye to report this courtesy to his mistress! 
From that day on she regarded her ancient 
opponent and state officer with new and 
unofficial interest. When she was in Zea- 
land, he invited her to visit his castle of St. 
Martensdijk, and she was graciously pleased 
to accept. Brave was the entertainment 
prepared for the lady. Throughout the cas- 
tle the walls were hung with tapestries won- 
derful to behold. There was a red chamber 
wrought with angels, and another room 
where the hangings were embroidered with 
strange beasts. Rich bench coverings and 
cushions, a fine show of plate, and other 
luxuries gave evidences of Lord Frank's 
wealth and taste. But the chief mark of 



^be Silent partner 225 

homage to his guest was displayed in the 
great entrance hall. Here the walls were 
decorated with garlands, into which the 
letter D was entwined, many times repeated. 
Lord Frank conducted his visitor from room 
to room, and was doubtless pleased at her 
pleasure and admiration. When she asked 
the significance of the D's, he bowed low, 
and told her that it was to signify his devo- 
tion to her service, to say to his lady — Dijn 
williger dienaar. He had not dared express 
his feelings with outspoken words. 

Now the more confident and confidential 
chroniclers who love to lift the veil of his- 
tory, declare that Jacqueline was so touched 
by this respectful and delicately offered af- 
fection that she was led to forget at last the 
desertion of the fickle Humphrey and all her 
other woes, and to accept the ardent and 
humbly proffered love of the Zealand noble. 
The difference in rank between the two does 
not appear abysmal across this distance of 
time. He was a noble of high degree and 
position and withal evidently possessed of 
unusual wealth. She was the dispossessed 



2 26 H fiDcM^val prlnceae 

sovereign lady of three tiny countships, 
tossed and buffeted by harsh winds of ad- 
verse fate. Her quondam sister-in-law Cath- 
erine of Valois, widow of Henry V, stooped to 
wed a simple Welsh gentleman. Far more 
discrepancy seemed to exist between a 
daughter of France, widow and mother of 
an English king, and Owen Tudor, than be- 
tween Jacqueline and Frank van Borselen. It 
was, therefore, probably not the difference in 
rank that made Jacqueline fear to announce 
her intentions of contracting a new alliance, 
and that led her to break her pledge of 
the Delft treaty, and to marry Lord Frank 
privately in her own apartments at The 
Hague, as the chroniclers say that she did, 
''With certain people as mediators," adds 
the author of the Codex Tegernseer in his 
narrative.^ 

That writer proceeds to tell how Philip 
was in Paris when news was brought him 
of this high handed and secret act on the 
part of his lieutenant and ward. Losing no 

^ Viris mediantihus aliquihus. The Codex brings Philip to The 
Hague in July and concludes the story of the loan with the secret mar- 
riage. 



Zhc Silent partner 227 

time, the Duke hastened to The Hague ac- 
companied by his wife, Isabel of Portugal, 
with an escort of six hundred archers, who 
might be put to other uses than to serve as 
a guard of honour to the Duchess of Bur- 
gundy. At first there was no intimation 
that this visit had other significance than 
cousinly regard combmed with Philip's nat- 
ural desire to inspect affairs in his acquired 
territories. There was reason enough for 
his presence, and possibly Jacqueline dis- 
guised her fears that anything might be dis- 
covered, and that danger menaced her and 
her newly wedded husband. Some days, 
perhaps weeks, passed before the bomb 
burst in the sudden arrest of Lord Frank. 
One night,— it was November 25th,— Lord 
Philip de Ternant, a young and devoted fol- 
lower of Duke Philip, lay in wait for Bor- 
selen as he returned from escorting the Duke 
to his apartments, declared him his pris- 
oner, and conducted him to a little boat 
lying in readiness close under the castle 
wall. Borselen was carried to Rotterdam, 
where a ship was waiting to take the captive 



228 H fiftebiaeval princeee 

farther, to the stronghold of Rupelmonde in 
Flanders/ 

When Philip found proofs that the reported 
marriage between his stadtholder and the 
titular countess was a fact, he considered 
that he had been basely betrayed. A mes- 
senger was despatched to Rupelmonde with 
a warrant for Lord Frank's death. The pris- 
oner was discovered playing chess with the 
castellan. The latter took the letter from 
the hand of the courier, read the warrant, 
and turned to the board to continue the 
game as though there were nothing sig- 
nificant in the message. In spite of his 
efforts to be nonchalant, his change of 
countenance, was, however, too marked to 
pass unheeded by his opponent, who in- 
sisted on knowing the purport of the paper. 
**So at last my foes have overcome the 
Duke's goodness," was the latter's comment. 

At his own suggestion. Lord Frank was 

' The Codex says that Lord Frank was taken off secretly in a boat 
to Rupelmonde, and that the Count de Meurs liberated him with great 
difficulty upon the condition of Jacqueline's resignation. There are 
many slightly differing versions of the story. 

See also, " De Eerste Jaren," etc., Blok. 



Z\)c Silent partner 229 

hidden away by the friendly castellan, who 
then informed the Duke that his behest was 
obeyed. Philip's speedy repentance and 
genuine sorrow at the execution of his will 
led to a confession of the ruse, and to an ac- 
commodation of affairs. Such is one story. ^ 
Another is that Jacqueline, stricken with 
grief, made ready a fleet and sailed down 
the Scheldt to rescue her husband. Philip 
was at Rupelmonde before her. Before she 
had an interview with her cousin, Jacque- 
line asked to be assured that the prisoner 
was still in life. He was suffered to appear 
at an open window, where she could see 
him from the deck of the ship, where she 
stood watching eagerly. Once convinced 
that he was unharmed, she hastened to 
Philip's presence and declared herself ready 
to accede to his utmost demands, provided 
only that her husband might be forgiven 
and released. The penalty exacted was the 
final and complete renunciation of her heri- 
tage, her abdication from the last vestiges of 
sovereignty as expressed in her titles. One 

' See Loher, ii., p. 492 et seq. 



230 a flDcMa^val princeee 

English chronicler, Edward Grimeston/ adds 
to this story of Jacqueline's sacrifice in be- 
half of her husband, the dark suggestion 
that, after his imprisonment, Borselen was a 
broken man as a result of an enervating 
drink given him at Philip's command to 
ensure a failure of heirs. But these extra 
touches only appear in narratives that have 
had time to gather moss through the rolling 
yeai's, before they were written down. 

Later investigators into the actual facts of 
the case scoff at the idea of love passages 
between Jacqueline and Lord Frank, both 
no longer in their first youth. They clothe 
the bare skeleton of well attested data with 
a different substance of conclusions, and 
their treatment of the story must now be 
considered. 

During those years between 1428 and 
1433, Philip of Burgundy had every reason 
to be pleased with life. His desires were 
bearing fruit. In 142 1, the inpecunious and 
debt-burdened John 111, Count of Namur, 
had sold his countship to Philip for a round 

' A Generall Historie of the Netherlands, p. 54, London, 1627. 




PORTRAIT OF JACQUELINE. 1431 C?). 
Copy of original by Jan van Eyck. In the Royal Gallery, Copenhagen. 



^be Sileut partner 231 

cash sum of onehundred and thirty-two thou- 
sand gold crowns, with the proviso that the 
sale should not be concluded until his death. 
On March i, 1429, John III died. There 
were no direct heirs to dispute his right 
of disposing of his petty sovereignty, and 
Philip of Burgundy was acknowledged his 
successor without serious opposition. In 
the following year (August 4, 1430) a still 
larger and richer plum fell into Philip's 
hands on the death of the Duke of Bra- 
bant, exhausted like his late brother John 
at an early age from excesses and dissi- 
pations. 

Here the succession was disputed. The 
Dowager Countess of Holland, Jacqueline's 
mother, was one degree nearer the late duke 
than her nephew of Burgundy. As Brabant 
had originally come to the Burgundian 
branch of the Valois family through a 
woman, her claim was not unprecedented. 
But Philip had not a mind to be troubled by 
the hobgoblin of consistency, and he paid as 
little attention to futile clamours as to feeble 
imperial assertions that Brabant was a lapsed 



232 a flDcMa^val prlnceea 

fief. Only a few weeks prior to this event, 
Philip had declared that all the flotsam and 
jetsam cast up by the sea at Noordwijk 
should belong to his dear Aunt Margaret^ 
and to none other, but when sovereignty 
was in question affection could be easily set 
aside and he ignored her claims. 

Thus was the circle of his territory ex- 
panding. The state that he maintained was 
magnificent and he gathered adherents about 
him in a right royal fashion. When his 
nuptials with his third wife, Isabel of Portu- 
gal, were celebrated at Bruges in 1430, Philip 
instituted the Order of the Golden Fleece, 
and bound his chief nobles to him by a 
further tie.^ Still on his side, he never forgot 
that in one slice of the territory he controlled 
he was not yet sovereign, only heir to the 
Countess. Holland, Zealand, and Hainaut 
had welcomed him as ruward simply be- 
cause they longed for peace and for the pro- 
tection of a strong hand. But it is possible 

^ July II, 1430, Van Mieris, p. 982. Possibly this is a direct bargain 
because three days later the dowager releases the people of Krimpen- 
erwaard from all sea and dike service due to her. 

^ Vinchant, vi., p. 174. 



Zhe Silent partner 233 

that within a few months after his accept- 
ance, these same territories had repented 
their action, and felt the inconvenience of 
an absentee overlord with his fingers in many 
foreign affairs, his interests involved with 
England and France, and he himself French 
to the backbone and far more concerned with 
Netherland revenues than with Netherland 
interests. 

The financial arrangement with the Borse- 
lens did not run smoothly. As farmers 
they could not raise the estimated amount. 
It was difficult to pay the income of sixteen 
thousand crowns pledged to Jacqueline, 
while in addition to that, various specified 
revenues were weighted with charges of 
divers kinds. Again, taxes which might 
have been collected easily by agents of the 
all-powerful duke were refused or wrangled 
over when assessed by the farmer, who 
could not so easily enforce his claims. The 
death of one of the three Borselens, Philip 
of Cortgene, in 143 1, brought about some 
complications in the settlement of his estate, 
and Lord Frank was summoned to Ghent 



234 a flDebia^val lprincc60 

in January of 1432. Here we find Isabel 
acting in behalf of her husband. In June, 
the governors accompanied by Boudijn van 
Zwieten go to Brussels where they see 
Philip in person, but the items of their dis- 
cussion do not appear. It is only evident 
that there is much dissatisfaction abroad. 
Now it is very probable that, during the 
summer, the two ancient factions of Hooks 
and Cods which had so long been inimical 
to each other evinced a disposition to co- 
alesce in joint hostility against Philip. 

Jacqueline's mother, ill - content with 
chance flotsam and jetsam tossed up by the 
sea on the Noordwijk shore, as a compensa- 
tion for the riches of Brabant, was impli- 
cated in one dark plot against the Duke's 
life which was discovered in the summer 
of 1432. y^gidius Postelles and a follower 
were arrested at Margaret's little court of 
Quesnoy and paid for their share in this 
project with their heads. Now if disaffec- 
tion against Burgundy thus found expres- 
sion in Hainaut, an alliance between the 
dispossessed Countess and a noble like 



^be Silent partner 235 

Frank van Borselen, the head of the latent 
Cod party in Holland, might be still more 
significant as an evidence of aroused nation- 
alism against foreign domination. A similar 
union had been the dream of William VI on 
his death-bed, and what more natural than 
that some one should recall the dream now, 
when neither faction was in arrogant en- 
joyment of power? Again, that summer 
was a period when the bonds between Eng- 
land and Burgundy were loosening. Con- 
sequently it is not improbable that England 
was looking for commercial friendship in the 
disaffected Netherlands. Instead of over- 
whelming passion that swept away all other 
considerations, political motives may well 
have suggested the advantage of a bond be- 
tween the heads of the Netherland parties, 
whose very names were condemned to 
oblivion. Such was Philip's fear— revived 
pretensions on the part of the hereditary 
Countess supported by Cods as well as by 
Hooks. The phrase used in the Codex Te- 
gernseer suggests something like united ac- 
tion. Monstrelet speaks only of a rumour 



236 H flDcMa^ral lprincc06 

of an intended marriage/ When the ducal 
party and their six hundred archers arrived 
in The Hague, Lord Frank was absent in 
Egmont. What really happened before Lord 
Frank was dismissed from his office on No- 
vember ist, does not clearly appear. The 
accounts give the day of his arrest as St. 
Catherine's Day, November 25th. But it 
was no sudden and dramatic action as the 
chroniclers would have us believe. Here 
again the accounts are communicative.^ 
Messenger fees paid November 20th show 
that Philip had sent letters to the cities to in- 
form them formally of his arrival and of 
Lord Frank's projected arrest before it took 
place. 

By December ist, Philip was certainly 
again in Flanders, and may have been at 
Rupelmonde as the stories relate. 

No romantic reasons are hinted at in the 
sober document finally signed on April 12, 

^ In the Kroniek van Gouda and in Monstrelet, both contemporane- 
ous, there is no suggestion of a secret marriage. 

^ Rek. (1432-33), p. 50. St. Katharinendach doe her Vrancke 
gevaugen wart. See " De Eerste Jaren," etc. Bijdragen, 1885, p. 
333. 



Zhc Silent partner 237 

1433, at The Hague. We can only infer that 
it culminated some series of events tragic 
enough to bring Jacqueline to her knees be- 
fore her cousin. She, the Amazon used to 
battles and to camp life, confesses that she is 
''a feminine person " and conscious that she 
cannot command obedience, nor administer 
government in peace, rest, and tranquillity.^ 
From these and other reasons pertaining to 
the commercial interests of her subjects she 
decides that no one is so perfectly able to 
render them good service as "our dear 
brother of Burgundy," whose lands lie all 
around. That same brother is '* our true 
heir and next blood." Accordingly ''out of 
perfect love and natural affection, without 
the least compulsion and beyond the power 
of revocation on our part or on the part of 
our descendants, we give and bestow all the 
powers of sovereignty, high and low, terri- 
tories, cities, castles, and peoples of the 
countships of Hainaut, Holland, Zealand, 
and Friesland, together with the garrisons, 
rights and liberties, revenues, aids, etc., 

^ Van Mieris, iv., pp. 1012-1015. Eene vroulijcke persoen. 



238 H fiDeMa^val princeea 

marches, gifts from ecclesiastical estates, etc. 
— without reservation of anything that has 
accrued to us from our father, Duke Wil- 
liam, and uncle, Duke John of Bavaria, of 
blessed memory," etc. She was to release 
all her subjects from their oaths and to enter 
into no bonds with Philip's foes. Freedom 
of chase was, however, especially reserved 
to Jacqueline wherever she might please to 
hunt in her former domains and in all Bur- 
gundian territories. 

Eight columns of Van Mieris's great folio 
are filled with the arrangements between 
this humble *' feminine person," this poor 
weak woman conscious of her incapacity, 
and her powerful rival. ^ It is easy to pick 
flaws in the accuracy of the chroniclers, 
who copied carelessly one from the other, 
without duly weighing the value of what 
they quarried, but they are truth personified 
as compared to the legal documents cum- 
bered with phrases designed expressly to 
conceal thoughts. 

' There were two copies in Dutch and two in French. One of 
each is at Lille. For the French see Cartulaire, v., p. 177. 



ZCbe Silent partner 239 

Estates were duly provided for Jacqueline, 
— the islands of East and West Voorne and 
the city of Brill, South Beveland, Vere, 
and various other places in North Holland 
and Friesland, while others were to fall to 
her after her mother's death. And, most 
important of all, in addition to certain other 
specified tolls, Jacqueline was assured five 
hundred '' clinquars"^ annually from the 
revenues of the countship of Ostrevant. All 
further claims were settled by a lump sum 
of one thousand pounds Flemish. There 
were certain limitations set to Philip's power 
of government, but henceforth he was free 
to style himself not Ruward but Count of 
Holland, Zealand, and Hainaut, and Lord of 
Friesland. 

His cousin's title was to be henceforth 
Jacqueline, Duchess in Bavaria, of Holland, 
Countess of Ostrevant.^ This last was sig- 
nificant. For some generations it had been 
the title of the next heir to the countship. 

^ Burgundian crown pieces. One of Philip's first acts in Hainaut 
was to regulate the currency, which was in a confused state from the 
variety of coins in circulation. Cartulaire, v., pp. 184, 188, 212. 

^Jacque Duchesse en Baviere, de Hollande, Comtesse d'Ostrevant- 



240 H flDeMa^val princeea 

Thus Jacqueline and Philip completely re- 
versed their relations to each other. The 
heritage was to return to her and to her 
descendants in case of failure of heirs in the 
Duke's direct line. Now Philip had no child- 
ren from his first two marriages and had 
already lost two infant sons borne by Isabel 
of Portugal. Thus this provision gave some 
promise of restoration to Jacqueline and her 
heirs. But in all the verbose phrases of this 
document, there is no hint of Jacqueline's 
immediate intention to marry. Nor is there 
the slightest suggestion that it was an al- 
ready existing marriage tie formed in direct 
violation of her positive pledge to Philip, 
that justified him in confiscating all the 
rights secured to his cousin on her abdica- 
tion. 

Only here and there do records and chron- 
icles agree. An order to the castellan of 
Gorcum^ forbidding him to yield up the 
castle as 'Mong as Lord Frank is impris- 
oned " settles beyond question the fact of 
Borselen's imprisonment there. 

^ Bijdragen, 1885, p. 340. So lange as her yrancke gevange lack. 




LORD FRANK VAN BORSELEN. 
In the National Gallery, Amsterdam. Circa 1436. 



Zl)C Silent partner 241 

In March, Philip returned to Holland and 
sent messages of summons to the cities, 
whose deputies convened in answer to his 
demand on April 3d. Nine days later the 
final treaty was signed. A certain number 
of pensions paid from May for '' good offices 
rendered" show a list of Cod and Hook 
nobles. If there had been a national move- 
ment of rebellion against him, Philip assur- 
edly displayed masterly skill in suppressing 
it, and the rest of his procedure was in keep- 
ing with his usual policy. It was stipulated 
in the treaty, because '' we Duke and Duch- 
ess are both present in Holland " that to- 
gether they should visit the cities, and the 
ex-Countess should formally release her 
subjects from their obedience to her. This 
was done, and again with great show of 
amity, Philip and Jacqueline made a slow 
progress from city to city, so that all her 
world could see how she acquiesced in her 
deposition from Countess of Holland to 
Countess of Ostrevant. In Hainaut and 
Zealand it was stipulated that the release of 

the people was to be made by brief, 'Mn 

16 



242 a flDe&iaeval princeee 

case we cannot go thither with our said 
brother."^ 

Hugo van Lannoy, a Hainauter and thus 
neutral to both Holland factions, was ap- 
pointed stadtholder of Holland and Zealand. 
The eight-year compact between Philip and 
the Borselens was not honoured by men- 
tion even in the breaking of it. But a new 
compact was made on April 20th, wherein 
a pension of three hundred Burgundian 
crowns is settled on Lord Frank, either by 
way of compensation for his imprisonment, 
or as a bribe to renounce claims to the herit- 
age of his wife or bride. By June 27th, the 
Zealander was reinstated in freedom if not 
in office, for messengers summon him to a 
new diet at Leyden.^ 

Thus did the Netherlands pass over to the 
House of Burgundy and become subordin- 
ated for one hundred and fifty years to gov- 
ernment administered from abroad or by 
stadtholders. 

Philip does not rest content with pro- 

^Cartulaire, v., p. 190 et passim. Jacqueline dates her letters from 
Valenciennes on May 12th, but possibly Philip was not with her. 
2 " Bodeloonen," June 25, 1433; Bijdragen, 1885, p. 343. 



^be Silent partner 243 

clamations and statements published on the 
spot explanatory of the fashion in which all 
has passed, and of Jacqueline's satisfaction 
that ''our dear brother" is about to secure 
peace and commercial activity for her people 
which she, "a feminine person," had failed 
to attain. To the King of France, to the 
Pope, and to the Council at Bale, the Count- 
ess proceeds to despatch letters over her 
own signature, but evidently compiled with 
the neatly turned Burgundian phrases of the 
treaty, wherein she tells her own news of 
her resignation with never a word of her 
marriage,' nor of the fact that the open 
treaty of April 12th was not the only docu- 
ment signed on that day. There was also 
a secret compact, wherein it was provided 
that Jacqueline might marry a gentleman 
from the neighbouring territories under con- 
dition of the approval of Philip's council- 
lors.^ In the commission given to them the 
terms of the secret treaty are referred to 
and the reasons for the present action are 

^ Cartulaire, v., p. 203, et passim. 

'^ Bijdragen, 1885, p. 343. Prof. Blok's reference is yan Limb. 
Browjoer, Bourg. ch. 12 April ^ '433- 



244 H flDcMa^val princees 

recapitulated. But it is not only by virtue of 
compacts that the beneficent duke acts. He 
alone is the natural protector of his cousin. 
He is bound to guard her honour and it is 
from his marvellous affection and ever loving 
concern for her welfare that he sends his 
own chamberlain and treasurer to assist her 
with their advice upon her projected mar- 
riage. On December 9th, Anthony de Croy 
and Guy Guilbant were accordingly ap- 
pointed by Philip to take the matter into 
consideration.^ 

January 27, 1434, is the date of the document 
wherein these worthy gentlemen give their 
sanction to what probably had taken place 
eighteen months previously. The whole 
method of procedure is curiously round- 
about. It seems as though Philip wished 
to keep in the background while justifying 
his position to the world. The articles of 
marriage are finally signed on March ist^: 
''jacoba, Duchess in Bavaria, Countess of 
Ostrevant, is empowered to marry with the 

^ Van Mieris, iv., pp. 1028, 1029. 

^Ibid., p. 1032. The titles of Jacqueline's new estates are also 
used. 



Z\)c Silent ipartner 245 

noble and powerful knight Lord Frank of 
Borselen, Seigneur of Zuilen, of St. Martens- 
dijk, ^nd of Cortgene and with no other." 
Both parties shall incur no blame or reproach 
from my lord the Duke. Both parties are 
freed from debts contracted by the other 
before marriage. In case of Jacqueline's 
death without heirs, Lord Frank pledges 
himself to swear off all claims to her heritage 
at large, but there was some property which 
she was free to bequeath, and she assures 
him a pension of twelve thousand Burgun- 
dian schilde. 

When Philip gives his own sanction Oune, 
1434) to the alliance approved by his depu- 
ties, he goes a step farther, and raises Lord 
Frank to the dignity of Count of Ostrevant, 
while according him acknowledged relation- 
ship as *'our dear cousin." His own goal 
was attained, and he could afford to be 
lavish with meaningless courtesies and to 
permit his crushed rival's husband to rank 
with princelings. 

The public rite of marriage was at last 
performed in the chapel at St. Martensdijk, 



246 a flDebia^val prlncea^ 

in that very castle of Lord Frank's where 
tradition gives the fete distinguished by the 
twisted D's. If the impetus to this union 
sprang from the hope of regaining the pro- 
vinces for their posterity if not for themselves, 
it was, like many of Jacqueline's desires, 
doomed to disappointment. She had no 
children, and was herself soon cut off from 
presumptive heirship by her cousin's better 
fortune. By the time the title of Count of 
Ostrevant was granted to Lord Frank and 
succession was secured to his family in case 
of default of ducal heirs, Philip's own son 
Charles^ was more than a year old, and had 
proved a sturdier baby than his two infant 
brothers who came into life only to leave it. 
The Duke's long cherished schemes of found- 
ing a dynasty were therefore more assured, 
and he could afford to be generous in pro- 
mises, based on unlikely conditions, thrown 
to the woman to whom his last gifts were the 
office of supervising the woodlands in her 
ancient domain and the title of Lady Forester. 

^ Born in 1433, he succeeded his father in 1467, and was known as 
Charles the Bold. 



CHAPTER XIV 

Lady Forester 

1433-1436 

r^IVESTED of the few shreds of the phan- 
^-^ torn sovereignty first accorded to her, 
Jacqueline seems to have settled down to 
the kind of existence led by any noble chat- 
elaine within her own domain and to have 
enjoyed the various pleasures to be found 
upon the estates at St. Martensdijk, at The 
Hague, and at Teylingen. This last was a 
hunting seat in the Haarlem, woods, where 
the newly created "Count of Ostrevant" 
and his wife resided for part of the year, 
and where first she, and then he, exercised 
authority as Forester of Holland. 

Two legends sprang into being about our 
heroine's ways of life in this particular 

dwelling, originating from the discovery in 

247 



248 a flDeMa^val lpnncc60 

the moat of a number of small earthenware 
jugs, known as Vrouw facoba's kannetjes, 
or kriiitjes, — Madam Jacoba's mugs or jugs. 
One theory was that Jacqueline devoted 
her leisure to pottery making, and that 
these little vessels, identified with her name, 
were turned off from her own wheel in the 
years after Fortune's wheel had turned her 
strenuous days into a series of undisturbed 
hours. One English writer sagely suggests 
that in this peaceful occupation the former 
Countess of Holland not only gave an im- 
petus to an excellent home industry, but 
also introduced a new word, taken from her 
husband's name, into her native tongue, 
which has passed into English in almost 
identical form.^ From '' Borselen" this in- 
genious antiquary derives porselein, porce- 
lain, an etymology which is as harmless as 
the tradition. At least it casts no slur on 
the memory of the defeated Amazon, even 
though she herself might have preferred 

'^Journal of the Archceological Association, \o\. xxvii., 1871, p. 
218. "Episodes in the Career of Humphrey of Gloucester and his 
first Duchess," It would be difficult to find more errors to a page 
than occur in this article. 



Xabi? jforeeter 249 

another kind of a reputation than that of a 
Holland dame devoted to domestic arts. 

The second story is less friendly, for it 
accuses '' Vrouw Jacoba" of having emptied 
her own kannetjes of wine, animated by a 
desire to drown in oblivion the recollections 
of her chequered past. Bilderdijk paints 
the ex-sovereign as spending the days of 
her retirement in mad carouses, a fitting ter- 
mination, as he implies, to her unwomanly 
military escapades.^ 

The one explanation is as little true as 
the other. The cups were used at Teylin- 
gen, emptied probably at Jacqueline's own 
table, but many shared in the task, and the 
numbers found may be accounted for by 
the custom of tossing away the beaker 
after it had been drained with a toast to a 
person or to a lofty sentiment. Never again 
was it to be put to commoner usage. Un- 
doubtedly there were feasts in plenty at 
Teylingen. It was situated in the midst of 
the wooded district, where Jacqueline and 

* His theory is that a euphemistic phrase signifying inordinate drink- 
ing, het legen van kannetjens, was the seed of both the above legends. 
yaderlandsche Geschiedenis, iv., p. 123, De Dichtwerken, xiv., p. 17. 



2 50 H fiDebiaepal princeea 

Lord Frank enjoyed the pleasures of the 
chase, an amusement essentially social in 
its nature. As a matter of course, the Lady 
Forester would entertain the hunters, and 
her merry and devoted guests tossed off 
many a draught to her health and to poet- 
ical thoughts or spruchs, and then paved 
the moat with the kannetjes that have been 
piled up into a monument to the chate- 
laine's discredit, or to point her descent from 
her proud ambitions. 

Now that everything was bent to his 
will, Philip took care that his cousin should 
be amply supplied with money and enabled 
to maintain a certain state. Minstrels 
thronged her petty court as in the early 
Hainaut days. Music was a diversion next 
in favour to outdoor sports, as is shown 
by various receipts. Jacqueline's rooms, 
too, were luxurious in such elegance as the 
age afforded, though they lacked many a 
comfort known to Holland burghers within 
a few decades of this period, still on the 
edge of the Middle Ages. Hangings and 
tapestries abounded and were well pre- 



Xab? jforeeter 251 

served as is testified by bills for cleaning 
and repairs. As for her own apparel, 
Jacqueline, even as Lady Forester, pos- 
sessed almost as many gowns as Queen 
Elizabeth. Robes of gold cloth, plain and 
fur- edged, of damask, silk, and sober 
weaves, garments of various hues and of a 
wondrous variety of patterns, and headgear 
to match, were found in her chests. Traces 
of economy are apparent here and there, 
two pairs of sleeves, for instance, serve to a 
single dress. Also Dame Jaque was saving, 
for many of her belongings were too much 
worn to be utilised by any one, when they 
were exposed to public gaze after she had 
finally discarded them. But on the whole, 
her wardrobe was rich and costly. 

Her jewel-box likewise was well stocked 
with various ornaments and many chains. 
Some of these were studded with jewels of 
price. In one, for example, there were 
fourteen sapphires and one hundred and 
eighty-nine pearls, while other necklaces 
were less brilliant but valuable. Strange 
that so large a store of gold chains survived 



252 a flDcM^val iprinceee 

the hard-pressed years of warfare. At that 
time and for at least a century after, chains 
similar to these were used like purses of 
coin, spent out link by link, to settle a bill 
at an inn or to satisfy the clamours of 
troops. 

Less able to indulge in aesthetic tastes or 
to stimulate learning than her uncle of 
Bavaria, or the dukes of Brabant and of 
Gloucester, or her lavish cousin of Burgundy, 
it was only possible for Jacqueline to be a 
patron of art and letters in a small way. 

It was a period when artists looked for 
a Maecenas able to help them on their way, 
as well as sufficiently cultivated to appre- 
ciate their work. Jan van Eyck deserted 
Holland for Flanders even before the death 
of his first patron because the Duke of Bur- 
gundy lured him to Ghent with advantage- 
ous offers. The best craftsmen laboured for 
the highest bidder. Jacqueline had much 
less to attract talent to her service than her 
father or her uncle, and among the friends 
and followers mentioned by name in her 
will is neither poet nor painter. 



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FACSIMILE OF PAGE IN MS. OF FROISSART'S DiTTIERS AMOUREUS. 1496, 



Xa&? foxcBtcv 253 

Founding universities and endowing libra- 
ries were beyond the range of her expendi- 
ture, but she contributed her mite towards 
encouraging the zest for learning that was 
beginning to animate Europe to new intel- 
lectual activity. Various individuals eager 
to prosecute their studies were aided by her. 
Fifty gilders here, fifty gilders there, helped 
many a youth who longed to explore the 
mysteries of the philosophical researches 
at Cologne forbidden in the lesser schools. 
Her proteges did not, apparently, seek 
Louvain. 

In the years that passed after the Treaty 
of Delft the exhausted little northern pro- 
vinces seem to have slipped out of the stream 
of action into a back water, while various 
European complications floated by. The 
relations between England and Burgundy, 
whose maintenance had seriously affected 
Jacqueline's own fortunes, became more and 
more strained. The death of the Duchess 
of Bedford snapped an important link be- 
tween the Burgundian family and the re- 
gent. When the latter married Jacquet of 



2 54 H flDebi^val prince^e 

Luxemburg out of hand, with scant courtesy 
to the memory of his wife, and without in- 
forming his late brother of Burgundy about 
his intentions until they became fact, an 
irreparable breach was made. 

The apparent failure which overwhelmed 
the Maid of Orleans at Compiegne, the 
scene of little '' Vrouw Jacob's" infant be- 
trothal and early widowhood, Jeanne's sale 
by John of Luxemburg to the English, her 
imprisonment, her trial and tragic death in 
143 1, — all passed during the period when 
Jacqueline was living quietly in Zealand. 
The hands crushing the two valiant young 
women in their harness were the same. 
Philip of Burgundy, Cardinal Beaufort, once 
Bishop of Winchester, John of Bedford, all 
had a share, active or passive, in the burning 
of the one as they had in the discomfiture 
of the other. 

The result of Jeanne's sacrifice did not 
vanish in the smoke of her fagots. Eng- 
lish domination was not sufficiently deep- 
rooted in France to withstand long the 
shock received at Orleans. The coronation 



%ni>^ Iforeeter 255 

of Henry VI at Paris did not efface the 
consecration of Charles VII at Rheims. 
When Philip at last addressed the latter as 
King of France and refused that title in 
his despatches to the former in a fashion 
to make the little sovereign weep, there 
was a seal set on English rule across the 
Channel. 

At the death of the Duke of Bedford in 
1435, it became clear how much his in- 
dividuality had counted in giving prestige 
to his nephew's royalty. 

With him ''England lost all that had 
given great, noble, or statesmanlike ele- 
ments to her attempts to hold France."^ 
His successor as regent, the Duke of York, 
found the English dominion entrusted to 
him shrinking like a snow-ball before the 
rays of the sun of France. Soon the Treaty 
of Arras defined the new condition of affairs. 
Philip received and accepted apologies for 
his father's murder, was himself absolved by 
the cardinals from his oath of alliance with 
the English, and welcomed Charles VII 

^Stubbs, Constitutional History of England, iii., p. 121. 



2 56 a flDe&ia^val princcea 

into his own again. By the early summer 
of 1436, the energetic duke was prepared 
to besiege Calais and to dislodge his late 
allies from that important foothold. Mean- 
while, Humphrey, now last surviving son of 
Henry IV, indignant at the Treaty of Arras, 
which denied England the fruits of her long 
wars, gathered a force and sailed over the 
water with ten thousand men and two 
hundred ships to defend his ward's choicest 
continental possession. Calais, at least, was 
saved to the English crown. The defender 
then proceeded to carry war into Burgun- 
dian territories, and made a brief cam- 
paign on Flemish soil, where he wrought 
much damage but failed to sustain his 
own arrogant claim to wear the title of 
"Count of Flanders," conferred upon him 
by Henry VI as King of France, suzerain 
of the land.^ Philip, it was alleged, had 
forfeited his rights by treachery to his liege 
lord. 

Of all Humphrey's uneasy pretensions 
none were more absurd than this. His 

' Holinshed^ iii., p. 614. 



Xab^ 3fore9ter 257 

expedition added nothing to his reputation 
or to his nephew's realm. 

" The protectour with his flete at Calys then, 
Did lande, and rode into Flaunders a little waye, 
And little did to counte a manly man," 

writes a rhyming chronicler with no great 
admiration for the patron of letters.^ 

This abortive effort of the sometime Count 
of Holland, Zealand, and Hainaut by virtue 
of his marriage, to pose as count of another 
Netherland province might have been . a 
source of amusement to Jacqueline. Lord 
Frank was deputed by his liege lord of Bur- 
gundy to be on the alert to repulse the Eng- 
lish from the coast of Zealand. But there 
was no need. Humphrey's ships did not 
effect a landing. In alarm at the injury to' 
commerce from the breach with Burgundy, 
the privy council addressed letters to some 
of the Holland cities and to Jacqueline her- 
self, begging aid and co-operation. The 
draught of one signed by the young king, 
dated ''March 29, 1436," is preserved with 

' The Chronicle of John Hardyng, p. 396. 



258 H fiDe&iaeval iprlncess 

its erasures and changes.^ It is addressed to 
A nre treschiere J hamee marine [cousine t] 
mareinejaqueducesse de Holande IZeland to. 
4irc tschre t .... The affectionate 
''aunt" of the early communications has 
vanished, but other links are remembered. 
It is Jacqueline's turn to be reminded how 
her arm had held the infant prince at 
the font, and how she was still god- 
mother to Henry VI, in spite of the muta- 
tions of circumstance. Her reply is not 
preserved. Certainly no aid was given to 
the English and the ''Count of Flanders" 
discarded the term as he had his other 
Netherland designations. Perhaps, in later 
days, he wished he had shown courage in 
holding to the title of Count of Holland, 
once worn so flauntingly in the face of 
Europe, and to the cause of the woman from 
whom he received it, when "happened a 
miserable incident that served to show how 
powerless was Gloucester, or contempti- 
bly pusillanimous."^ 



' Proceedings, etc., Nicolas, iv., p. 334. 
^Stubbs, iii., p. 127. Rot. Pari., v., p. 445. 



Xab? Iforeeter 259 

In 143 1, Eleanor Cobham, by that period 
fully acknowledged as Duke Humphrey's 
legal wife, was in her turn received into the 
fraternity at St. Albans as Jacqueline had 
been in 1423/ For a time she was first 
lady in the kingdom, but terribly evil days 
were in store for her. Ten years after this 
public reception by the good monks, this 
unhappy Duchess of Gloucester was con- 
victed of treasonable witchcraft and con- 
demned to life imprisonment, after doing 
humiliating penance by walking barefoot 
through London streets with a two-pound 
taper in her hand.^ The crime charged 
against Eleanor Cobham was that she had 
tried to compass the death of Henry VI by 
fashioning a little waxen image in his like- 
ness and melting it before a slow fire. 
Marjory Jordan suffered more severely for 
her aid in this plot, as she was convicted 
of witchcraft and burned at the stake. 

' In this year the abbot, appealed to Humphrey for aid in a quairel 
with the Bishop. The courtesy to Eleanor may have been offered to 
gain her husband's friendly offices. Annales Monasterii Sancti Al- 
bani, Amundesham, p. 308. Chronicon, ibid., p. 66. 

^ Stow, p. 381. Stubbs,iii., p. 127. See also Shakespeare, Henry 
VI, Part II, Act i., sc. ii. 



26o a flDebia^val iprinceae 

When word came to Eleanor's ears that, 
from the pulpit at St. Paul's Cross on July 
25th, St. James's Day, she had been pub- 
licly accused of being the principal in the 
witch's evil deed, she fled hastily to the 
shelter of Westminster. But the sanctuary 
did not avail to protect her from arrest, nor 
did her husband, although it is evident 
that the end of the plot was to pave his 
way to the throne. Afraid of being in- 
volved in her ruin, " he took all things pa- 
tiently and said nothing." ' Humphrey had 
learned patience under the affliction of 
others' misfortunes. Later, it is true, he 
made a futile effort to enact a law providing 
for the trial of noble ladies by their peers, 
and he was endeavouring to secure a de- 
finite pardon for Eleanor when he met his 
own unexplained death, out of favour with 
the royal nephew to whose interests he had 
ruthlessly sacrificed one woman. Whatever 
the decision of the Roman curia in re- 
gard to the invalidity of the Brabant 
marriage from the beginning, there was cer- 

^ Grafton, p. 588. See Diet. Nat. Biog., vol. xxviii. 






1 







duccfatcinftcinliuffmG 
t)mbnnsint()oioiiurrt 
mlfniut^fundicfltieiio 



HUMPHREY, DUKE OF GLOUCESTER, AND ELEANOR HIS WIFE, RECEIVED 
INTO THE CONFRATERNITY OF ST. ALBANS. 1431. 

British Museum, MS. Col. Nero, D. VII. 



Xa&^ fovcetcv 261 

tainly no adequate obstacle to a new mar- 
riage after John of Brabant's death ^ had left 
Jacqueline free to form an alliance where 
she would. 

This humiliating calamity to her rival, 
which the sometime Duchess of Gloucester 
might have regarded as time's revenges for 
her own tragic desertion, did not occur 
until 1 44 1, when all life's changes had 
ceased for Jacqueline. 

' The statement that the Pope forbade any union between Jacque- 
line and Humphrey even if she were a widow seems unsustained by 
the terms of the bulls. 



CHAPTER XV 

Her Last Will 

1436 

A BRIEF space of two years was given to 
^^ the ' ' Countess of Ostrevant " to enjoy 
her last hazard of new fortunes, which 
assuredly secured tranquillity and freedom 
from anxiety to her and, possibly, more hap- 
piness than she had known since her father's 
death. If we may take phrases at their 
face value, Lord Frank was a much loved 
comrade. Every word of reference seems 
weighted with affection beyond the verbi- 
age of legal courtesy. 

In the summer of 1436, at about the time 
when Humphrey entered Flanders, Jacque- 
line was attacked by consumption. The 
disease developed rapidly and nothing 

availed to check its ravages, though Master 

262 



Iber Xaet Mill 263 

John of Leyden and Master Gijsbrecht of 
Amsterdam were called in to aid Master 
Martin, her leech in ordinary, with their 
science. The two spent ninety-eight days 
at Teylingen, wrestling with the malady. 
Master Gillis, too, was summoned from 
Dordrecht to see if his greater skill could 
devise further remedies. 

Like many consumptives, Jacqueline 
clung passionately to the earthly existence 
that had been none too sweet. During 
those weary days when she was evidently 
an acknowledged invalid, she was in no 
haste to arrange her affairs and make the 
last disposition of her worldly goods. She 
was young, having attained only her thirty- 
fifth year on July 25th, and it was natural 
that she should still cherish a hope that 
there were yet many years in store for her. 

Three beguines or lay sisters and two 
holy brothers from Leiderdorp watched by 
her bedside to give her spiritual comfort. 
Thither, too, came Floris van Kyfhoek, 
Floris van Abele, and William van Egmont, 
councillors of the Court of Holland, besides 



264 a flDcbteval princeee 

her husband and her mother. This last 
seems to have enjoyed an iron constitution. 
More than fifty years had elapsed since her 
marriage, but she was still apparently hale 
and hearty and ready to take responsibilities. 

On Saturday, October 8th, the patient 
was warned that her case was beyond med- 
ical skill and that she must be prepared for 
the worst. Only then did she consent to 
make her will.^ With her last breath she 
dictated her wishes to her faithful secretary, 
Jan Grenier. The Dowager, Lord Frank, 
and the three above-mentioned councillors 
were appointed as " testamentors " or ex- 
ecutors to carry out her behests. 

It was none too soon. Possibly the dis- 
eased lungs were strained by the effort of 
dictation. On the morrow, Sunday, Octo- 
ber 9th, Jacqueline breathed her last. 

Among those final desires was the ex- 
pression of a wish to be carried to the chapel 
of the Borselen castle of St. Martensdijk — 
the castle where tradition says that her 

' Codex Diplomaticus Neerlandicus. " Hist. Genoot. te Utrecht," 
1852, pp. 166-266. The reckoning of the will is given in full. 



Iber Xaet Mill 265 

heart was first touched by the delicate at- 
tention of the twisted D's, designed to ex- 
press the Zealand noble's silent and humble 
devotion, and where the records show that 
she certainly gave him her hand in mar- 
riage. This natural wish was overruled by 
her executors, and ''Dame Jaque" was 
buried among her ancestors at The Hague ; 
not because that was the fitting sepulchre 
for the last child of the ancient House of 
Holland, but because forsooth the executors 
thought that the funeral would cost less ! ^ 
This fact appears in the final accounting of 
her will, filed away eight years after the de- 
posed Countess was laid among her ances- 
tors. November 6, 1444, is the date of 
the document signed by Gerard Potter, set- 
ting forth in the minutest detail the disposi- 
tion of the estate. 

The selection of the burial-place caused 
great disappointment to the dean and canons 
of the church at St. Martensdijk, as they felt 
that they were cheated out of probable offer- 
ings to the lady's shrine. In consideration 

Codex Dip., p. 214. 



266 H fiDcDi^val prlnce66 

of this loss, the executors gave them six 
hundred Philip's scilde, and my lord of Os- 
trevant added a gift out of his own pocket 
to ensure a daily mass to console and aid 
the soul of the departed, besides satisfying 
the chapter. 

As the cortege wound along the road from 
Teylingen to The Hague, a distance of about 
twenty miles, largesse to the sum of ninety- 
five groots was thrown broadcast to the 
poor, while the priests, nuns, clerks, vergers, 
scholars, and other good and honest persons 
received in all £'] 55. 

At The Hague, the final obsequies were 
performed with all honour and pomp in the 
presence of a goodly number of nobles, but 
the occasion was not graced by the presence 
of Philip or his family. The official chief 
mourner was the wife of the governor of 
Holland. During the usual period after the 
funeral she attended high mass daily in state. 
In recognition of this gracious participation 
in the ceremonies she received a rosary 
of pearls and jewels. 

The bill for the actual interment, exclusive 



Iber %m mm 267 

of candles, was £4 \Ss. 6d, All this last 
outlay was paid from the estate and all was 
recorded by Gerard Potter. Nothing great 
or small is forgotten. In addition to the 
masses celebrated at The Hague and at St. 
Martensdijk, many others were sung to the 
peace of the departed, and every solemn 
service was duly rewarded. An honourable 
bachelor in divinity of a preaching order, 
one Brother Heynric Smit, otherwise known 
as ''My Friend" (Mij'n l^runt) received 
thirty shillings for his offices. Jan de Bruyn 
had the gift of a gown in addition to his 
fee, because he was such a shabby fellow. 
Some of the items touch very humble 
folk, who did not dream that their fame 
would survive for five centuries. Bet Beth, 
who carried a message, a woman who placed 
the chairs and cushions, six poor people 
who held the torches, and one Spon Janne- 
gen, ready to '' help when he could and who 
is a pitiful fellow," — all are duly recorded 
with their tiny receipts for their wages. 

The learned doctors who watched the pa- 
tient with their store of learning, only to 



268 a flDeMa^val princeee 

read the sentence plain to less instructed 
eyes, reckoned their services at a gilder a 
day. Master Jan's fee came to one hundred 
gilders. As his servant deserved a present 
and a ''little something" was added for the 
doctor, the total sum receipted for was ^8 
165. 2d. Master Gijsbrecht received a like 
sum, while Master Gillis, ''called [one won- 
ders why] Jan van Apeltaren," signed a 
receipt for twelve Philip's crowns and some- 
thing over. The faithful beguines had fifteen 
shillings, while every one else attached to 
the castle, or coming thither during the last 
illness to bring a fish or a message, remem- 
bered Just how much labour or shoe leather 
or sabot wood it had cost them, and their 
claims were settled in full or in part. 

The last service to the tomb was rendered 
byjoris, the sculptor, who carved a wooden 
figure in the late lady's image, to take its 
silent place among the effigies of the former 
counts and countesses of the land. His 
work was valued at two, his wood at five 
and a half scilde. Each scild being worth 
25. 4^., his whole bill was 175. 6i. Joris's 



Iber Xa6t Mill 269 

work has perished. We hear of it twenty- 
eight years after its making, when Dietrich 
van Duivenvoorde was obliged to pay thirty- 
one ducats as a fine for his contemptuous 
words about it; and again at the end of the 
sixteenth century, when the States General 
decided that it needed a fresh coat of paint. 
Jacqueline's name lingered longer than that 
amid the branches of a tree she is said to 
have planted at Goes, and in a little copse 
in The Hague woods known as ''Jacoba's 
Preeltje."^ 

The first steps toward settling the estate 
were taken promptly, even before the tes- 
tator was laid away to rest. On October 
12th, Lord Frank made a formal renuncia- 
tion, present and future, of his wife's per- 
sonal estate, and of all possible claims to 
sovereignty, and he was released from any 
responsibility for her debts. The Dowager 
Countess received the same release. Lord 
Frank retained the title of Count of Ostre- 
vant with the accompanying income of five 

^ Haagsche Jaarhoekje, 1892. It has been shown, however, that 
Xht Jacob of this name was a pastor, not the Countess. 



2 70 a flDebia^val princeaa 

hundred crowns.^ Evidently the title was 
henceforth shorn of all suggestion that its 
bearer was the heir, either apparent or pre- 
sumptive, to the sovereignty of the count- 
ships. During the thirty-five years that 
Lord Frank survived his wife, he was, as 
Count of Ostrevant, a prominent figure in 
the Burgundian court, addressed by the 
Duke as ''cousin, " and finally admitted 
among the elect in the Order of the Golden 
Fleece. Whether from devotion to Jacque- 
line's memory or from reluctance to sever 
his connection with her name, he remained 
a widower. ^ 

The reason for Borselen's renunciation of 
Jacqueline's personal estate is plain. It was 
barely sufficient to cover her bequests and 
the task of h\er executors was no sinecure. 
Countess Margaret asked and obtained per- 
mission to have Jan van der Mije act as her 
attorney, because she could not be present 
continually, while Lord Frank appointed Jan 

* Coinage of Philip of Burgundy. Certain estates not touched by 
his oath also fell to him as provided in the marriage settlements. 

'He died 1471. Reckoning of his estate, Codex Dip., 1852, 
p. 147. 




THE STATUE OF JEANNE D'ARC AT COMPIEGNE. 



Iber Xaat Mill 271 

Ruyschrock '*to help in his name as best 
he could." ^ 

The testament was confirmed without 
delay by Philip, who chanced to be at 
Damme. His letters patent, declaring that 
the last wishes of his late rival should 
be fulfilled, are dated October nth, and a 
copy was filed with the will. There were 
thus no protests to encounter, no law's de- 
lays, yet eight years elapsed before the busi- 
ness of settlement was completed and the 
account filed away in The Hague archives, 
where it has rested, over four and a half 
centuries. 

The first act of the executors was to real- 
ise the cash value of the testator's posses- 
sions in order to give peace to her soul by 
doing God's will and by satisfying her poor 
servants. ^ The inventory of the personal 
property is almost pitiful in its minuteness, 
laying bare every recess of Jacqueline's 
household. Significant of the loose and 
uncertain state of the currency is the list of 

' Codex Dip., p. 167. 

^ Om dair off ter ^yelen troest om Gods wille te ^even, hair artne 
dienres niede te Ion en. 



2 72 a flDebi^val prlnceee 

coins receivable in the sale. To the long 
enumeration is added the phrase, ''and all 
other gold and silver at such price as the 
following reckoning stipulates."^ 

The jewels were the first articles sold. 
From Bruges, Dordrecht, and other places 
merchants flocked to The Hague. Among 
them was one, Jan Puyctinck, commonly 
known as '' Uncle Goldcup, " — Goidscale 
Oom, ^ Thus he is designated when he 
purchased one lot of gems, chains, and 
other valuables. At another time, ''Uncle 
Goldcup " is mentioned as buying " in behalf 
of jan Puyctinck. " Perhaps the recording 
clerk was confused with "Uncle Gold- 
cup's " numerous purchases, for he invested 
largely. Beatrice Colyns, one of the house- 
hold and herself a legatee, buys in, among 
other things, a white flower studded with 
two pearls and a diamond. She also 
bought one ring out of a lot of three, which 
all together were not worth more than six 
shillings. When it was discovered how 

^ Codex, p. 1 67. 

^ Goidscale Oom eenen coopman van Brugge geheten Jan 
Puyctinck. 



Iber Xa^t Mill 273 

trifling in value was her purchase, the other 
two rings were given her to boot. 

Two sable sleeves, almost as treasured as 
the jewels, were bought by Jehan de Bull 
for jC^4' Angel sleeves they must have 
been, and very large at that, if the state- 
ment that they contained 296 sables be not 
a clerical error or a later misprint/ 

Among the jewel cases, preserved as care- 
fully as precious stones themselves, were 
six English books. Some were on history 
and some on medicine, but as they were 
written in English, ''here in the land there 
was no one to reap profit " from their con- 
tents, and they were sold to an unknown 
English merchant for £^ i6s. 8d, 

The total amount received for these 
valuables, excluding those specifically be- 
queathed, was ;^i382 75. S^d.y and the 
approximate value of this sum may be 
estimated by the price paid for seventeen 
horses and ten cows in the stable — ^59 
125. 4d. 

^ It was the age of " sleeves that slod upon the earth " quotes Tre- 
velyan in the y4ge of IVyclife (p. 63), and the fashion continued into 
the fifteenth century. 



2 74 a flDeMa^val Iprinceee 

The sale of all the household effects fol- 
lowed that of the special treasures. The 
very beds from the various dwellings were 
not spared: twelve from St. Martensdijk, six- 
teen from Hoochstraten, thirty-two from 
Oostvoorn, with all their appurtenances, 
were carried off to humbler homes. The 
kitchen utensils, great and small, were 
turned over to Jan van der Mije, and those 
of any value were sold at Dordrecht "to the 
profit of my lord of Ostrevant." A few pots 
and pans were excepted and given out- 
right to the women present at the masses 
celebrated on the octave and the thirtieth 
day after Jacqueline's death. Everything 
left in the larder after the funeral baked 
meats had been served, even the very salt, 
beer, and vinegar, were also disposed of in 
the market at Dordrecht, for £(q 95. For all 
the little articles left in the various houses 
unaccounted for specifically. Lord Frank 
paid the estate a lump sum of one hund- 
red Philip's soilde. 

Some of the clothes were reserved from 
the sale and bestowed on ladies or maids 



Iber %net Mill 275 

of the household. It is pleasant to read 
that a poor *'wifekin" became the re- 
cipient of a little cloak, even though the 
same were not lined/ One lot containing 
an old coat, a hood, two or three rosaries 
and some other articles of no value were dis- 
tributed to various people, ''whose names 
are forgotten," records Gerard Potter's clerk. 
Other garments were presented to clois- 
ters in acknowledgment whereof masses 
were sung, while jan the barber picked out 
a certain black silk tabbert as promised 
him by his late mistress, and his unattested 
word was believed. To Ermgart van Riet- 
uelt and Juffrouw Hastgen, faithful watchers 
at the sick-bed of their lady, was given a 
chest of miscellaneous contents. Ermgart 
was to receive two-thirds for her longer 
service and Hastgen the remainder. Hon- 
est to the end the women proved them- 
selves. Among the other things rightfully 
theirs, they discovered some pearls, which 
they recognised as the property of their 

' Een :(wart cleyn eenwissel huyckin otn Gods gegeven een arm 
wijffken. 



2 76 a flDcM^val prlnceae 

late lady's mother, and straightway they 
surrendered the jewels to the Dowager. 

When all the personal property was real- 
ised, the settlement of the bequests began. 
The desire to "satisfy her poor servants" 
was evidently strong in those last hours of 
the dying lady, so many did she try to pro- 
vide for by name. Then, too, she seems 
to have longed to compensate for certain 
wrongs committed in her time if not in her 
name. Four hundred masses were provided 
for the soul of one Gillis, cook to her late 
uncle, John of Bavaria. This man had met 
a violent death in England, and there were 
rumours that he had had some hand in the 
plots against John's life. The kinsman im- 
plicated in the murder of Willem van der 
Berg, the Brabantine treasurer, received a 
special bequest to pay the fine still due to 
the murderer's family. During his wife's 
lifetime Lord Frank had pledged himself to 
see that this sum was paid, but evidently 
the pledge was still unfulfilled in 1436. That 
Jacqueline showed an interest in the crimi- 
nal must not however be taken as a proof 



Iber Xaet Mill 277 

of her co-operation in the crime, as has been 
urged. Abundant evidence exists of her 
kindly interest in many of her connections 
whether she knew them or not. ''A cer- 
tain Vrouw Kerstine claiming to be my 
lady's sister dwelling with her daughter at 
Utrecht/' was bequeathed a black gown and 
one hundred and fifty scilde to buy her 
daughter's admission into a close sisterhood 
at The Hague. 

Churches, cloisters, and other religious 
foundations throughout the three lands re- 
ceived many presents, sometimes for their 
poor, sometimes to ensure prayers for 
''Dame Jaque." All who took part in the 
celebration of the masses at the stipulated 
anniversaries had a recompense of some kind. 

The executors were further besieged by a 
shower of miscellaneous claims against the 
estate. There were excellent memories on 
the part of all who had ever rendered any 
service to Jacqueline. ''A certain great 
prior" said that he had furnished the coin 
for largesse on one occasion, and many old 
servants, chiefly cooks, declared that they 



2 78 H flDcMa^val Iprinceee 

had lent their mistress money at various 
times, hi several instances the claim w^as 
not allowed as valid, but something was 
given because of the poverty of the claim- 
ant. Occasionally the claim is endorsed 
neant paye. Sometimes there is a plea that 
the petitioner suffered loss in the lady's serv- 
ice from the death of a horse. Another, 
perhaps, had worn out time and shoes in 
journeying on foot to a shrine to pray for 
the success of his lady's struggle to regain 
her sovereignty. Again there were requests 
frankly for the benefit of the petitioner who 
had cherished some kindly word spoken by 
Jacqueline and thought it a promise. 

One of her student beneficiaries at Co- 
logne asserted that his patroness had further 
promised him means to give a supper when 
he was doctory:(ed. Fifty Rhenish gilders 
were allowed to celebrate his academic suc- 
cess, so that a grand banquet should be 
given and a stately feast be held.^ His quit- 
tance shows an acknowledgment for £% 2s, 
Id. 

^ Eefie groote maeltyt geven ende een stately ke feeste houden sonde. 



Iber Xa6t mm 279 

Not alone were the testator's own debts and 
obligations, formal and informal, considered, 
but ancient claims against her father were 
brought to light. One Bartelmeus van Blees- 
wijc presented a bill for broideries wrought 
at Count William's order at the time of 
''Dame Jaque's marriage to Duke John of 
Touraine."^ '' Our lady had, to be sure, re- 
pudiated all such indebtedness but, admit- 
ting that Bleeswijc had more right than the 
other creditors, she had given him, as an 
especial favour, an order for one hundred 
francs," each piece valued at 165. Parisian. 
This order had never been fulfilled. It was 
finally honoured, but paid in coins worth 
less than the value stipulated. 

Coincident with the demands of the claim- 
ants were the efforts of the lawyers to col- 
lect all outstanding moneys owed to the 
testator. As late as 1440, Philip sent heralds 
through the lands to search out his predeces- 
sor's debtors. Dire Lieue spent a fortnight 
in South Beveland on this quest. Sixteen 
shillings were charged to the estate for his 

^ Codex, p. 244. 



28o a flDcbia^pal iprinceae 

expenses, because it was hard travelling 
in December. These Zealanders had been 
dunned several times for back taxes. Nov/ 
they were warned that their mills would 
be stopped until they paid or the Duke 
would collect by force. 

When all claims were settled in full or 
compounded at the amount the estate could 
afford, then came the accounts of the legal 
expenses incidental to the business. Here, 
too, we find evidences of good memories. 
Jan Grenier received thirty shillings for draw- 
ing up the instrument, andjoriken, his serv- 
ant, came in for four shillings, as he had 
helped in the task, besides writing the letter 
of notification to the Duke of Burgundy. 
The lists of jewels, etc., made first in Latin 
and then translated into the vernacular were 
an extra item of expense. Then there were 
the Delft goldsmiths who came to The 
Hague to appraise the jewels, and the legal 
experts summoned to test the validity of the 
will. The latter discussed affairs over a 
dinner in company with some of the execu- 
tors at the * ' Ooltgens. " This cost the estate 



1ber Xaat mm 281 

twelve shillings, and similar refections on 
other occasions were duly accounted for, 
showing an admixture of business and pleas- 
ure. When Floris van Abele, Floris van 
Kyfhoek, and Jan van der Mije journeyed 
to Brill in ''the week before mid-Lent" to 
have their papers inspected by their liege 
lord, their wagon and boat hire amounted 
to thirteen shillings and eight pence. Trips to 
Brussels, to Haarlem, and elsewhere, where 
the Duke of Burgundy might chance to be 
in the course of his peripatetic administra- 
tion, were more or less costly, according to 
the rank of the messenger. The outlay on 
ink, parchment, and paper during the eight 
years is lumped at ^2. 

At last every item was settled and Gerard 
Potter filed away his papers in the archives, 
unconscious chroniclers of Jacqueline and 
of her surroundings. The items touched on 
here are only a few of many, all eloquent 
with suggestions as to how life actually 
passed in the household of a fifteenth-cent- 
ury Holland dame. 



CHAPTER XVI 

The Lady and the Land 

CACT and fiction, rhyme and charter 
^ reason, admiration and calumny are 
closely interwoven into the woof of Jacque- 
line's story as it may be gathered piecemeal 
from witnesses of her own time, or as it 
is rewritten by authors in the succeeding 
centuries. She is a romantic heroine, the 
embodiment of a national feeling, the per- 
sonification of mediasvalism with a nimbus 
of, chivalry, a charming, spirited creature, 
courageous under adverse circumstances, 
battling sturdily for her rights against arrant 
injustice. Again, she is an undisciplined, 
lawless person,^ whose hereditary claims 
were properly set aside because she was un- 
equal to the task bequeathed to her by her 

^ Her most merciless critic is Bilderdijk, whose animosity is carried 
to an amusing pitch. See Dichtwerken, i., p. 216 ; xiv., p. 17. 

282 



Zbc Xab? anb tbe Xanb 283 

father, and because she defied the laws 
of the Church and of society. What she 
wanted, fragments of what she did and said 
are easy to know. The tales of documents, 
proclamations, and municipal records, of 
privy council discussions and contempora- 
neous chronicles, lie open to the reader. 
But what manner of woman she really was, 
even whether she were beautiful or not, or 
what was her outward semblance at the 
earlier phase of her career, are questions 
difficult to solve. The fact of her public be- 
trothal makes the little maiden a definite 
historic personage at the age of four and the 
barren details suggest dimly a bewitching 
baby form, decked out in pompous bravery 
of ceremonial array. No portraits remain 
of her as Daughter, as Duchess of Touraine, 
or as Dauphiness, although the presence of 
one Guisquin Zalm,^ artist, in the suite of 
the French bridegroom permits the inference 
that the promessi sposi were depicted in 
some fashion, but the result has vanished 
as well as all work from the hands of any 

^ Or Salm — Cartulaire, iv., p. v. 



284 a flDeM^val princeae 

painter employed by Jacqueline's father, 
but undoubtedly some portraits once existed. 
Count William's miniature court, migra- 
tory between Holland and Hainaut, had all 
the features of larger princely households. 
No uncouth feudal overlord was this last 
petty sovereign in Hainaut. He shines out 
as a brilliant figure on the delightful pages of 
that vivacious chronicler, Froissart, his own 
fellow-countryman. There he is, alert for 
any adventure, a typical scion of the spirit 
of knighthood as it flowers in mediaeval lit- 
erature of an earlier period. His travels 
made him a man of the world, at home in 
many places besides the province imbedded 
in forests and feudalism, or in his native 
Holland, then at the dawn of her commer- 
cial enterprise. The very day when, as 
Count of Ostrevant, William VI won his 
spurs, '' he reared up his baner and quytte 
himselfe lyke a good knight." Later at a 
famous tourney in London,^ '' Syr Gyllyam 
of Heynalt, erle of Ostrevant, justed ryght 

' The Cronycle of Syr John Froissart, Tudor Translation, iv.,p. 39; 
v., p. 285. The quaint English seems to interpret the author better 
than later versions. 





P^^^r^^lr 




MS. VOLUME OF FROISSART. 
Containing comments on Jacqueline. 



Zbc Xab? anb tbe %mi> 285 

goodly — and so dyd such knyghtes as came 
with him ; all dyde well their devoyre to 
the prays of the ladys." The sojourn in 
London was delightful and left such agree- 
able memories that William was eager to 
repeat the experience in 1390, when the 
voice of an English herald resounded 
through the Netherlands, bidding all good 
knights hasten over the sea to take part in 
the gaieties celebrating the entry of King 
Richard's young bride, Isabel, into London/ 
To his father's remonstrance that he did 
not wish his ''fay re son " to be involved 
in English affairs, William replies, '' Dere 
father, 1 wyll nat go into Englande to make 
any alyaunce ; 1 do it but to feest and make 
myrthe with my cousins there and because 
the feest whiche shal be holden at London 
is publisshed abrode ; wherefore syth I am 
signifyed therof and shulde nat go thyder 
it shulde be sayd I were proude and pre- 
sumptuous." '' Sonne, do as ye lyste ; but 
I thynke surely it were better that ye taryed 
at home," was Count Albert's last word, 

' The Crony cle of Syr John Froissart, vi., p. 420, 



286 a flDebia^val princc60 

which the son interpreted as permission in 
lieu of more hearty approval of his plan. 
"On a Thursday he passed over and so 
came to Canterbury and on the Fridaye he 
visited saint Thomas shrine . . . and 
because he had so gret a company and car- 
iages, he rode but small journeys to ease 
his horse and on the Sondaye he rode to dy- 
ner to Dertforde and after dyner to London 
to be at the feast which began the same 
Sonday." 

Gay indeed the occasion proved and great 
was the renown attained by the gallant visi- 
tor from Holland. He hesitated a little as 
to the wisdom of accepting the final honour 
conferred on him,— the Garter, but finally he 
is admitted into that order, to the annoy- 
ance of the French courtiers, who murmur, 
'' The erle of Ostrevaunt sheweth well that 
his courage enclyneth rather to be Eng- 
lysshe than Frenche when he taketh on 
hym the order of the garter and weareth 

the kynge of Englandes device 

The tyme wyll come he shall repent hym- 
selfe." They thought it especially ill-judged 



Zhc Xab? anb tbe Xanb 287 

because the Count of Ostrevant had always 
been more highly favoured in Paris than 
any other of the French king's cousins. 
Froissart thinks that these gentlemen were 
unduly critical of William. ''For that he 
dyde was but for love and good company ; 
howbeit no man canne let the envyous to 
speke yvell." 

The historian proceeds to relate how 
these same nobles, on their return to Paris, 
made capital out of this event and tried to 
bring discredit on the Netherland count by 
reiterating that he was ''become the kynge 
of Englande's man." 

This was a title certainly not acknow- 
ledged by Count William, but friends 
with England he was and remained. Frois- 
sart himself consults him in regard to his 
own projected visit to Richard II. in 1395, 
because his experience was of later date 
than the historian's. From time to time, 
travellers arrive in Hainaut and remind the 
Count of former acquaintance in London. 
Thither comes the banished Henry of Lan- 
caster on that journey of exile whence he 



288 a flDe&iaeval prlnccee 

returns home to take the crown from his 
royal cousin, and to Jacqueline Henry V 
requited the hospitality once offered by her 
father to his own. 

In his love for adventure William goes 
east as well as west. He saw Prussia and 
longed to participate in an expedition to 
Hungary and thence to Turkey. When 
he begs his father's sanction to this last 
scheme, Count Albert, '' as a man redy pur- 
veyed of aunswere sayd ' Guylliam what 
haste or wyll have you to go this voyage 
into Hungery and into Turkey to seke armes 
upon people and countrey that never dyd us 
any forfeyte ? Thou hast no tytell of reason 
to go but for the vayne glory of the worlde. 
. . . Go thou into Frese and conquere 
our herytage that these Fresones by pride 
and rudenes do witholde from us. ' " This 
suggestion was not unpleasing to the '' herte 
of therle of Ostrevant. " " My lorde ye saye 
well and if it please you that I shall do this 
voyage I shall do it with ryght a good 
wyll," was the son's dutiful reply. 

To Friesland, accordingly, the young war- 



Zbc Uabij anb tbe Xanb 289 

rior turned his attention. His campaign in 
that territory was so far successful that he re- 
covered and brought back to Holland the 
bones of his grand-uncle, who had found an 
untimely and unhonoured grave in his own 
Friesland enterprise. The remains of Wil- 
liam IV were, however, all that the Frisians 
really lost. In the following year they 
made good everything else, and William VI 
never again found time to enforce the asser- 
tion of Holland's supremacy in that region, 
having his hands full with incessant party 
quarrels at home. 

The abrupt manner in which Count Wil- 
liam rushed away from London in 1416, his 
departure from Paris in 141 7, are incidents 
showing that the middle-aged man did not 
change essentially as years went by from 
the impulsive youth, agog at the suggestion 
of a new quest and prone to let speedy 
action follow a sudden thought. Margaret 
of Burgundy was not a particularly con- 
genial consort to her husband. She was 
more subtle in her nature than he. She 
was addicted to political intrigue, and she 



290 H flDcMaeval Iprinceae 

was animated in her plotting by Burgundian 
ambition and craft, though she was cer- 
tainly less skilful in attaining her ends than 
other members of her family. Count Wil- 
liam amused himself with other women 
more to his taste than the partner of a 
political alliance, but rumour says that he 
was a devoted father to his daughter. 
Certainly during the later years of his life 
he was deeply preoccupied with plans for 
Jacqueline's future. 

When not abroad or afield on his various 
quests of business, of pleasure, and of war, 
Count William's life at The Hague, at Bou- 
chain, or Quesnoy was filled with strenuous 
amusement and with gay pastime. His lion- 
pit was renowned far and wide, so, too, were 
his harpers, his falcons, his blooded steeds, 
his minstrels. Two, at least, of the poets 
once haunting his court are known to pos- 
terity. Dire Potter and William van Hilde- 
gaersberch. The former, author of Der 
Minnen Loep, ''The Course of Love," is, 
moreover, mentioned as mijn liefs heren 
clerc, ''my dear lord's clerk," and received 



Zhc Xab^ anb tbe Xanb 291 

many a gilder for his diplomatic services in 
addition to his verses. In later years Potter 
turned to bask in the favour of Burgundy, 
after reaping what harvest he could under 
John of Bavaria. **He preaches and he 
sings in order to have money jingle in his 
purse," is the characterisation of a bard 
as given by William van Hildegaersberch. 
Patronage was eagerly sought by the poetic 
aspirants to literary fame, and, as a rule, 
their aim was to please the higher classes.^ 
Potter declares that the bourgeois world 
could not understand love, the theme of 
his pen. Yet both he and Hildegaersberch 
wrote in the vernacular and the virtues 
they lauded were those belonging to the 
middle class rather than to the aristocratic 
world. 

In Hainaut the charming and cultivated 
Froissart hardly crossed the threshold of the 
fifteenth century, and there was no suc- 
cessor in his art worthy to be classed on 
his level. Hildegaersberch spoke only his 
own tongue and depended for his subject 

^ Nederlandsche Letterkunde, W. J. A. Jonckbloet, ii., p. 242. 



292 a flDeMaeval iprinceee 

matter upon clerks, who translated for his 
benefit "many a theme writ in Latin." 
This William van Hildegaersberch is men- 
tioned twenty times in the accounts of Hol- 
land between 1383 and 1408. His works 
are devoted to moralisings, to abstruse 
speculations, and to allegories. There is 
little trace of divine fire in his lines. Only 
here and there occur quickened bits of narra- 
tive and well-turned dialogues. Much more 
is ascribed to him, however, than ever came 
from his pen, industrious as it was. 

The accounts of Holland show that in 
addition to recitations and songs, dramatic 
representations were given at Count Wil- 
liam's expense to amuse the courtiers. Both 
mysteries and moralities were acted, some- 
times by "clericals" and again by "cleri- 
cals and others." It is more than probable 
that Everyman was performed on The Hague 
stage, although actual record of such event 
is not forthcoming. 

Such was the atmosphere in which Jacque- 
line grew to maturity,— romantic, full of 
amusement and of movement, essentially 



Zhc Xabs anb tbe Xanb 293 

mediasval in tone, in colour, and in thought. 
Both virtues and failings leaned towards 
those of earlier centuries. 

Exactly what system of education Count 
William arranged for his ward and his 
daughter in addition to instruction in the 
mysteries of falconry and the chase, it is 
difficult to state. Jacqueline spoke French, 
Dutch, perhaps some faulty Latin, and Eng- 
lish. That this last language was little under- 
stood in spite of the marked similarity then 
existing between the speech heard in Eng- 
land and in the Netherlands, is proven by 
the chance phrase in Gerard Potter's state- 
ment that ''none here in the land" could 
make any use of the six English books care- 
fully preserved among Jacqueline's jewels. 

Such history as was taught was mainly 
genealogical; lessons were given in her- 
aldry, and possibly in some principles 
of the statecraft then in vogue, and in 
the feudal institutions as prevailing in 
city and country, though Loher's sugges- 
tion that there was definite training to 
prepare the future executives for their 



294 a flDeMa^val Iprinceae 

prospectives duties^ is a trifle imaginative. 
Jacqueline was undoubtedly initiated into 
the use of the needle, though there is 
no indication that embroidery ever became 
an agreeable solace to her in weary hours. 
Then, too, she was tutored in the code of 
etiquette, with its rigid rules for the observ- 
ance of outward forms, but no theory of 
conduct restrained her from unauthorised, 
unconventional action any more than it did 
her knightly father. 

In the early decades of the fifteenth cent- 
ury education was just beginning to be a 
matter of concern to the lay world. Criti- 
cisms of abuses within the one dominant 
learned body, the Church, were current in 
the Netherlands even among those quite 
faithful to its tenets and without sympathy 
for the Lollards. The accusation that popes 
and priests wrought ill and were "deaf in 
their understanding," and " cared for naught 
but to count the florins," creeps out in the 
verses of Hildegaersberch and of other moral- 
ising rhymsters. But there was also a spirit 

' Loher, i., p. 239. 



^be %ai>^ mi> tbe Xanb 295 

of real faith active in the land, finding ex- 
pression in establishments like that founded 
by Gerard de Groot at Deventer in 1385, 
where opportunities were furnished for 
the prosecution of other than theological 
studies.^ This institution took quick root, 
prospered, and found imitators. By 1430, 
there were forty-five similar schools in Hol- 
land, frequented by adult scholars before 
any universities proper existed in the Neth- 
erlands. 

As to lower education, some idea of meth- 
ods may be obtained from the records of 
Leyden. There the appointment of the 
schoolmaster was among the privileges sold 
outright by the Count of Holland to the 
burgrave. In 1351, that officer, then Dirk 
van Wassenaar, in his turn ceded the right 
of nomination to the city fathers, who hast- 
ened to buy a piece of land from Count Al- 
bert's own estate on which to erect a public 
schoolhouse."^ Thenceforward the duty 
of selecting an instructor for the Leyden 

' Blok, Bene Moll. Stad in de Middeleeuwen, p. 283. 
"^ Ibid., p. 297. 



296 H flDebi^val princeae 

youth was vested in the town council, some 
supervision being exercised by the chapter 
of St. Peter's; but the incumbent of the 
office was released from fulfilling the duties 
of sexton as well as those of pedagogue, 
and municipal education thenceforth be- 
came a definite institution. 

Just at the end of the fourteenth century 
a certain Jan of Hokelen, rector of St. Geer- 
truidenberg, was appointed schoolmaster at 
Leyden for a term of four years. In his con- 
tract it is stipulated that he might carry on 
his own studies during the second half of 
his engagement, provided that he does so 
within thirty miles of Leyden, and that he 
procures a satisfactory substitute to perform 
his duties. He is especially enjoined to pay 
great attention to grammar and to logic in 
his course of instruction. 

In 1408, we find that Jan of Haarlem, the 
then incumbent, was permitted to have as 
assistants two clerks, who also shared in 
the receipts. Jan's salary, irrespective of his 
portion of the fees, was £\8 a year and a 
dwelling. Moreover, he was carefully pro- 



Zhe Xab? aub tbe Uanb 297 

tected against the vengeance of parents who 
might be disposed to resent the disciplining 
of their unruly offspring. Evidently this 
was no unlikely contingency. Friction be- 
tween pupils and masters was occasionally 
so serious that the intervention of a higher 
power became necessary, and the worthy 
pedagogues were not invariably sustained 
in their authority. The fee due from the 
scholars, girls and boys alike, was sixteen 
shillings a year, but lads happily endowed 
with good voices were able to contribute 
something towards their own education. 
If they sang in the choir a small sum was 
deducted from their tuition bills. 

In addition to this public academy, private 
schools, too, found patronage in Leyden. 
The accounts rendered by a certain guardian 
show the course pursued by three girls 
(i 397-1406). Their education was begun 
at a private school, where the terms ran 
from May to All Saints' Day at a fee of ten 
shillings a term. From this establishment 
they passed on to the city school for half 
a year at eight shillings, and they were 



298 a flDebiaeval princeea 

'* finished" by taking sewing lessons from 
the beguines, for which a summer sufficed. 

In the city school the pupils were drilled 
in Latin grammar until they were perfect 
in the congriium and incongruum. In logic 
they were to use a particular book as far as 
the supposita and consequentia, hypothesis 
and conclusion. Instruction in philosophy 
was expressly forbidden lest the children's 
minds should be confused. 

The masters were not free to grant holi- 
days as they would. Vacations lay wholly 
within municipal jurisdiction, but the peda- 
gogues were protected from officious inter- 
ference in their educational methods by the 
provision that no city messenger should 
have access to the school unless he carried 
a permit of visitation, duly signed by two 
burgomasters. 

Paternal oversight was thus exercised by 
the town officials to guard the early train- 
ing of the young and civic supervision of 
ideas did not cease with the children. The 
burgomasters not only restricted the school 
curriculum ; they endeavoured to curb in- 



Zbc Xab? ant) tbe %mi> 299 

dependence of thought about religious mat- 
ters on the part of adult citizens. Cases of 
heresy came before the councils both at 
Leyden and at Mons during the early de- 
cades of the fifteenth century. Even then 
the authority of the Church was not un- 
assailed. By 14 17, copies of the Scriptures 
in the vernacular were read by zealous Lol- 
lards, who were under the ban, though less 
actively prosecuted than their brethren in 
England at the same period and a little 
later, by Humphrey of Gloucester, who was 
very vigorous in his determination to up- 
root the obnoxious sect. 

But in all probability no harassing thought 
of doctrinal perplexity and little inspiration 
of new learning penetrated into Count Wil- 
liam's court, or in any wise affected either 
him or his heiress. Jacqueline was a devout 
daughter of the Church and remained so in 
spite of her discontent with papal action in 
regard to her own much desired divorce. 
One of her earliest sovereign acts was the 
founding of the chapel at Bouchain, while 
many of her last testamentary provisions 



300 a flDe&ia^val IPrinceea 

show interest in religious establishments 
of various kinds. Brunelleschi had no 
contemporary in the Netherlands of equal 
skill, but there were efforts at ecclesiastical 
architecture at this epoch when the Flor- 
entine was erecting his dome, and in 
these efforts the young Countess assisted 
to the honour of the Church. Philosophy 
was as much unknown to her as to the 
Leyden school-children to whom its specu- 
lations were sealed by order of the burgo- 
masters. Her mind looked without, not 
within. She was absorbed in the complica- 
tions that beset her, not in the intricacies 
of intellectual life. Like her father, she was 
essentially a child of Hainaut in spite of the 
fact that she breathed her first breath and 
her last in the air of Holland. 

Most of the descriptions of Jacqueline by 
her contemporaries show her in the open — 
on the battlefield, — standing upon the em- 
bankment at Calais straining her eyes to 
catch a glimpse of the white cliffs of Eng- 
land looming out of the March mist, — riding 
up to London from Dover, seated in dig- 



Zhc Xab? anb tbe Xanb 301 

nified stateliness upon the palfrey, with 
Gloucester as her escort, — entering the 
courtyard of St. Albans, accompanied by 
twenty-four horse, on her road to Langley, 
— galloping away from Ghent in page's 
dress to meet the September dawn, — and 
finally making a slow and stately progress 
by the side of her conquering cousin 
through Holland, with gala array covering 
a sad heart, forced to proclaim to her sub- 
jects, both faithful and rebellious, her ac- 
quiescence in Philip's victory, her definite 
resignation in her own sorry defeat. 

The painting which is said to represent 
Jacqueline at about the age of twenty de- 
picts, however, a far more sedate personage 
than is suggested by any of the phrases 
sketching the above incidents in her career. 

This picture is preserved in the museum 
at Copenhagen. It is the work of some 
unknown artist, said to be taken from an 
original by Jan van Eyck, which has disap- 
peared but critics find sufficient evidences 
of the Flemish master's style in this copy 
on wood to be willing to accept the 



302 H fiDebtoval prlnceee 

accuracy of the statement of its genesis/ If 
it be true, the question as to the date of 
execution becomes an interesting one. Van 
Eyck's biographers assume that this must 
have been during the period when the artist 
was in the services of John of Bavariaj The 
accounts of Henry Nothaft, treasurer of Hol- 
land, and his successor, fix this date exactly, 
— the time when the painter and his assist- 
ants were busied upon the decorations of The 
Hague chapel, work that has also vanished. 
The first receipt for the wages of nine weeks 
and three days shows that the labour was 
commenced on October 24, 1422. Later 
entries indicate that Van Eyck ceased work- 
ing for John about three months before the 
latter's death. During the entire period of 
his established sojourn in Holland, Jacque- 
line was not only on terms with her uncle 
which would have precluded her employ- 
ing his protege, but she was across the 
Channel in England, far out of reach of the 
painter's brush. Accordingly, the inference 

' The copy is assignable to the end of the sixteenth century. See 
Early Flemish Painters, Crowe and Cavalcaselle, pp. 40, 42, zndjan 
van Eyck, L. Kaemmerer, 1902, p. 47. 



Zbc Xab? anb tbe Xanb 303 

that her portrait was contemporaneous with 
the lost frescoes at The Hague is manifestly 
absurd. Another theory that Van Eyck was 
in Antwerp in 1420, when he might have 
executed the work, has been abandoned by 
his latest biographer on what seem to be 
adequate grounds. 

Granting the authenticity of Van Eyck's 
handiwork, another possibility as to its date 
may be considered. After May, 1425, the 
artist was in the employ of Philip of Bur- 
gundy.^ The features of the portrait are 
certainly those of an older woman than 
Jacqueline was before her flight to England. 
Moreover, the head-dress worn is Burgun- 
dian in style. May it not therefore be in- 
ferred that Van Eyck was commissioned by 
the Duke of Burgundy to execute the por- 
trait of his defeated cousin as a fitting ter- 
mination to the feasts of reconciliation ? 
Such an action would have been eminently 
consistent with the character of Philip, de- 
lighted to make a display of his magnanimity. 

' Payments were made to Jehan de Heick jadi^ pointre et varlet de 
Chambre de feu. M. S. le due Jehan de Bayviere, quoted, Crowe 
and Cavalcaselle, p. 42. 



304 a flDebia^val princeee 

Shortly after the Treaty of Delft, Jan van 
Eyck went to Portugal with the embassy 
despatched to escort Philip's third bride to 
the Netherlands. Jacqueline might have sat 
for him in September, 1428. If not then, the 
date may be placed anywhere from 1430 to 
1433. In such case she would have been 
about thirty, an age that tallies fairly well 
with the features of the Copenhagen copy. 
Whether the portrait belongs to 1420, 1428, 
or 143 1, it is interesting as being a reproduc- 
tion of a contemporaneous study of Jacque- 
line's face. Here she certainly is not as 
beautiful as might be expected from de- 
scriptions.^ Chastellain, himself three years 
her Junior, calls her young, gay, and vigorous. 
Monstrelet says she was in the flower of her 
age beautiful, well formed, and endowed 
with an excellent understanding, words 
used again by Vinchant and other later 
chroniclers. Various other authors ascribe 
beauty to her, perhaps only because it 
seems the natural attribute of a youthful 

'Chastellain, i., chap. 71 ; Monstrelet, iv., i., chap. 236, p. 27; 

Vinchant, iv. , p. 71. 



Zbc Xa&T? anb tbe Xanb 305 

princess. One curious bit of casual testi- 
mony, plain as when it came from the hand 
of a contemporary, however, gives a less 
flattering comment upon her looks. 

In the National Library at Paris there 
rests a little manuscript volume^ entitled 
'' Dittiers et trait tiers amoureus—par dis- 
cret et venerable homme sire Jehan Frois- 
sart/' On the fly leaves of the book, 
various phrases have been written by differ- 
ent hands. Some are fairly legible : 

"Ce livre est a Richart le gentil feals conte de Warre- 
wyck." 

"C'est bien raison dit Jaque de Baviere.*' 

'• R. Raison pour guy pour ce que je veiss as freres." 

" Plus leide ny a Jacque de Baviere. Plus belle ny a 
que my [ma mie ?] Warigny." 

On another leaf, among other lines occur 
the following : 

"Beau promettre et rien doner fait la fole recom- 
forter dit Dorvic. " 

**Sans plus la laide Jaque dit Gloucestre 

** La meins amee est Jaque " 

' No. 831. CEuvres de Froissart, ed. Aug. Scheler, Bruxelles, 
1870, i., p. XV. 



3o6 a flDeMa^val prlnceaa 

"Nulle si belle dit Warigny." 

"Cast bien raison dit Jacque 
Sans plus vous belle Gloucestre. " 

At the bottom of this page is a heart 
composed of two hearts. This last seems 
to be of a later date. 

Froissart has left his own statement in 
regard to the contents of this little collection 
of his verses.^ When he mentions his de- 
sire to revisit England in 1395, he adds: 
"And 1 had engrosed in a fay re boke well 
enlumyned, all the matters of amours and 
moralytees that in four and twentie yeres 
before I hadde made and compyled, whiche 
greatly quickened my desyre to go into 

Englande to se king Rycharde 

Also I hadde this said fayre boke well cov- 
ered with velvet garnysshed with elapses 
of sylver and gylte, therof to make a pre- 
sent to the kynge at my fyrst commynge 
to his presence." 

The project was carried out, and Froissart 
crossed the sea armed with letters from 

^Froissart, vi., pp. 130, 147. 




nI 




1 . 


.^^ 


h 'i-; 




.i_, -.._..'- - - 





^Q- 



4' 



1 

r 



Zbc Xabi? anb tbe Xnrib 307 

Counts Albert and William to recommend 
him to King Richard, whom the poet had 
only seen on the day when he was carried 
to the font. The court was at Leeds. 
Thither the traveller journeyed, was ad- 
mitted to the royal presence, and delivered 
up his letters, but Richard was so busy that 
**on that day I shewed not the kynge the 
boke that 1 hadde brought for hym." 

Many days elapsed before the moment 
seemed ripe for presentation of the cherished 
gift. It was at Eltham that 'Morde Thomas 
Percy and syr Rycharde Sury shewed my 
busynesse to the kynge. Then the kynge 
desired to se my book that I had brought 
for hym; so he sawe it in his chambre, for 1 
had layde it there redy on his bedde. 
Whanne the kynge opened it, it pleased 
hym well for it was fayre enlumined and 
written, and covered with crymson velvet 
with ten botons of sylver and gylte, and 
roses of gold in the myddes, with two great 
claspses gylte, rychely wrought. Then the 
kyng demaunded me whereof it treated, and 
1 shewed hym how it treated of maters of 



3o8 H fiDebla^val princeee 

love; wherof the kynge was gladde and 
loked in it and reed it in many places, for 
he coulde speke and rede Frenche very 
v^ell; and he tooke it to a knyght of hys 
chambre named syr Richarde Creadon to 
beare it into his secret chambre." 

The cover of the volume at Paris is not 
velvet, nor is it garnished with clasps of 
silver and gilt. The date when it was 
written, 1394, corresponds, however, with 
that given by Froissart. It may be that a 
replica of the presentation volume was made 
for the then Earl of Warwick and bound less 
sumptuously. By 1426, the elder earl was 
dead and his son, Richard, was in Paris, as 
appears from a few lines by Lydgate, written 
when 

" Henry the sext of Age ny fyve yere reni 
I moved was . . . by . . . commande- 

ment 
Of . . . my lord of W^arrewyk 
Being present that tyme at parys." ' 

This year 1426, when Richard de Beau- 

' Lydgate's Temple of Glas. Ed. J. Schick. See Introduction, p. 
xciii. Meaning of reni is unknown. Can it be " reigned " ? 



Zbc Xabi? ani) tbe lanb 309 

champ, Earl of Warwick, was acting as 
regent in France during Bedford's brief ab- 
sence, fits these phrases fairly well. Just 
then Jacqueline's fortunes were at a low 
ebb, and a group of young English people 
might easily have dared to amuse themselves 
by making invidious comparisons between 
her and Madame de Warigny. The first did 
not need to be ugly, nor the second beau- 
tiful, to cause the fickle fancy of Humphrey 
to swerve from the one to the other so as to 
cause comment. ^ 

The phrases might also have been written 
in England a few years earlier, and the vol- 
ume might have been left in Paris in 1439, 
when its owner, the Earl of Warwick, died 
there as regent. However they came there, 
the words have outlived more serious testi- 
mony, and the flavour of court gossip is 
preserved on the fly-leaves. 

A Book of Hours evidently illuminated 
for Jacqueline after her fourth marriage gives 



* Loher says that Humphrey was in love with Madame de Warigny, 
wife of Jacqueline's equerry, and that the latter cherished a romantic 
devotion to his lady. Beitrdge, p. 274. 



3IO a flDcMaeval IPrinceea 

a tiny portrait of her suggesting no beauty 
in its minuteness.^ That it was not com- 
pleted until after her death, is implied by 
the word viva in the inscription, written in 
most unclassic Latin: 

" Hollandos, Frezones, Zeelandos, Hanoniensis 
Viva regens Jacoba tam comitessa bona 
Bavarie stirpis clans liquet ejus et armis. " 

This appears on the miniature of the 
Annunciation where Jacqueline's kneeling 
figure is represented. Lord Frank's portrait 
is in the miniature of the Nativity. The 
latter bears the following inscription : 

** Arma gerit suavis comes hie, pariter columpne. 
Franco, decus, norma, caput et flos Borsaliorum 
Juncta thoro Jacoba cui clara fuit comitessa." 

In the border of the Annunciation miniature 
are the figures of the two Saints James. One 
has a staff and the other a club. The in- 
scription states that these were the patrons 

» In the possession of M. le Comte de Musard, See Bihliotheque 
de I'ecole des chartes, 1903, pp. 314-320. The book passed from a 
branch of the Borselens to this French family, who have owned it 
since 1587. The eleven miniatures are done by different hands. 



Zhe Xab? anb tbe Xanb 3^1 

cherished by the Countess, and again, the 
past tense, coluit, shows that she had already 
passed out of life when the illuminator fin- 
ished this page. 

The three lines stating that in her lifetime 
Jacoba of Bavarian stock ruled over Hol- 
landers, Frisians, Zealanders, and Hanon- 
ians, and was illustrious from her own 
deeds of arms, preserve the record of her 
stormy sovereignty and of her military 
career, a career that seems inappropriate to 
the sober, staid, saddened woman, kneeling 
at her orisons. 

The portraits of l^rau Jacobe and Heer 
Vraok in the gallery at Amsterdam belong 
to the same century as their subjects. Pos- 
sibly the vanished canvas of Jan van Eyck 
served this unknown artist as a model for 
the lady's likeness. The head-dress and 
the contour of the face are very similar to 
those in the Copenhagen picture. The 
dress, however, is quite different and bears 
no trace of the ermine which it was still 
Jacqueline's privilege to wear when Van 
Eyck represented her. If the companion 



312 H flDebia^val princeee 



portraits were painted after 1436, under 
Lord Frank's own direction, to commem- 
orate his alliance with the ex-ruler of 
Holland, he certainly did not insist on 
a flattering presentment of his personal 
charms, sufficient though they were to 
induce his wife to renounce her prouder 
titles. Possibly his sanctimonious expres- 
sion is due to the unskilful treatment of the 
artist, who seems, too, to have used one 
model for the hands in both portraits. 

The engraving made for Le Petit's history 
at the end of the sixteenth century is ap- 
parently composed from certain features in 
the older portraits which were modified to 
portray a younger woman, imperious, de- 
manding, and still full of the hope which 
has vanished from the older face. 

With Jacqueline's death the Burgundian 
sovereignty in the Netherlands was assured. 
A long life was granted to Philip to enjoy 
the accumulated fruits of his victory. He 
had the opportunity given by years, an op- 
portunity denied to all the brilliant and 




PORTRAIT OF JACQUELINE. CIRCA 1436. 

In the National Gallery, Amsterdam. 



Zhc Xabi2 anb tbe Xanb 3^3 

ambitious contemporaries of his youth, 
whose careers proved too short for the 
fulfilment of their dreams. 

In the struggle for supremacy the burgh- 
ers of the contested provinces v/on many 
advantages given as bribes for the allegiance 
of their towns. When Philip was firmly 
established he repudiated his grants and had 
no hesitation in employing there the same 
autocratic methods to which other portions of 
his domain were accustomed. But the fact 
of their sometime possession of privileges 
was never forgotten by the Hollanders. 
When the later issue was made between 
the overlord and the cities, the demand 
was not for novel and unknown liberties but 
for their former charters. A golden era of 
civic individuality was set up as a standard 
whose brief and shadowy existence was 
fondly cherished. 

It must be remembered that under the 
Counts of Holland, the provinces were 
feudal estates, allied only because the head- 
ship happened to be vested in one person. 
Philip's hand welded the separate and 



314 



a flDe&i^val prlnccee 



incongruous parts together and forced them 
to be members of one body — a Burgundian 
state. Under the outward unity, burgher 
life grew in the communities, that obeyed 
but still held tenaciously to a latent spark of 
independence, to a national spirit, typified 
by the last Daughter of Holland. 




BIBLIOGRAPHY 

The sources for general Netherland history in the fifteenth 
century, and later works based thereon, are discussed by 
Prof. P. J. Blok, Geschiedenis van het Nederlandsche, Volk. II., 
Aanhangsel; English version, A History of the People of 
the Netherlands, ii., pp. 389-406 (New York, 1899). See also 
Eene Hollandsche Stad in de Middeleeuwen, by the same 
author (s'Gravenhage, 1883). 

For a closer study of the period, the best basis is the chap- 
ter on sources in Jakohda und Ihre Zeit. Franz von Loher. 
Nordlingen, 2 vols., 1867. I., pp. 403-430. 

In his own narrative Loher is somewhat sentimental, but 
in his investigation of historical material his industry has 
been extraordinary. His list of sources must, however, be 
supplemented for all publications later than 1867, and many 
documents have been rendered available since then. 

The Dictionary of National Biography (vol. xxviii.) should 
also be consulted; and the Bibliographie de Vhistoire de Bel- 
gique (H. Pirenne, 2d edition; Brussels, 1902). 

The following list comprises simply the chief works drawn 
upon for contemporaneous material, either printed intact or 
quoted, and a few later works specifically cited. Many others 
both in English and French are useful. 

Documents : 

Groot Charterhoek der Graven van Holland van Zeeland en 
Heeren van Vriesland verzaameld en in orde gebragt door 
Frans van Mieris. Leyden, 1733. 4 vols. This collec- 
tion contains documents from the earliest times to the 
death of our "Countess, Vrouwe Jacoba van Beijere." 
The editor was an artist, not a scholar, and his work is 
not critical and is marred by omissions. Fischer, de 
Jonghe, Kluit, and various historical associations have 
published many documents of whose existence Van 
Mieris was ignorant. Although more than a thousand 

315 



3i6 Bibliograpb? 



documents relating to Jacqueline are printed in vol. iv., 
they must be supplemented from other sources. 

Groot Placaat Boek. Ordinances, etc., of the States-Gen- 
eral. Ed., Cornelis Cau. s'Gravenhage, 1683. Vol. iii. 
contains some documents not foiuid elsewhere. 

Cartulaire des Comtes de Hainaut de V avenement de Guil- 
laume II., a la mort de Jacqueline de Baviere. Publie par 
Leopold Devillers (Bruxelles, 1881-92). Vols. iv. and 
V. contain much important matter, deeds, letters, ex- 
tracts from city registers, etc. 

Particularites Curieuses sur Jacqueline de Baviere, Com- 
tesse de Hainaut et sur le Comte de Hainaut. Extraits des 
registres des resolutions du conseil de la ville de Mons. 2 
vols. Vol. i. edited by A. D. (Mons, 1838). Vol. ii. edited 
by Leopold Devillers (Mons, 1879). (Soc. des Bibliophiles 
Beiges.) 

Devillers, Leopold. Inventaire Analytique des Archives de 
la ville de Mons. Part L (Mons, 1882-96). 

In the Royal Library at Brussels, under No. 9976, there is 
a collection of documents entitled Processus inter Johan- 
nem ducem BrabanticE et Jacoham de Bavaria. The most 
important of these were used by Edmund Dynter, See 
under Chroniclers of the fifteenth century. 

Feeder a Conventiones Liter ce et Cujuscumque Generis Acta 
Publica inter Reges AnglicF et Alios. Thomas Rymer, 
editor. Vol. x. contains various acts relating to Jacque- 
line's English marriage (2d edition, London, 1727). See 
also Feeder a, syllabus of vols. ii. and iii., ed., Th. D. 
Hardy (London). 

Calendar of Patent Rolls. Preserved in the Public Record 
Office. Henry VI, a.d. 1422-29. Ed., A. Hughes 
(London, 1901). 

Proceedings and Ordinances of the Privy Council of Eng- 
land. Edited by Sir Harris Nicolas (London, 1835). 
Vols, ii., iii., iv. 

The Paston Letters (142 2-1 509). Ed. James Gairdner 
(London, 1872). 

Letters and Papers Illustrative of the Wars of the English 
in France during the Reign of Henry VI. 3 vols. Ed. 
Rev. Joseph Stevenson. ("Masterof Rolls" Series.) Lon- 
don, 1864. 



Bibliograpb? 317 



Collections (Society and Periodical) : 

Historische Genootschap te Utrecht. The publications of 
this Society contain many studies on particular topics, 
such as Court expenditures and accounts, etc. ; also 
many documents, such as the reckoning of Jacqueline's 
executors, etc. Kroniek, see 1850-51-52-60, etc. ; Codex 
diplomaticus , see 1852-53, etc.; also Bijdragen en Mede- 
deelingen, Berigten, and Werken (five series in all). 
Utrecht, 1 846-1 903. 

Abhandlungen der Historischen Classe der Koniglich Bay- 
erischen Akademie der Wissenschaften. Munchen, 1867. 
Vol. X. Beitrdge zur Geschichte der Jakobda von Bayern 
(Erste Abtheilung, p. i; Zweite Abtheilung, p. 205). 
These articles contain extracts from much unprinted 
material; and two complete MS. histories, designated 
Codex Tegernseer and The Hague Codex. 

Bijdragen voor Vaderlandsche Geschiedenis en Oudheid- 
kunde. Editors: J. A. Nijhoff and P. NijhofI; later, 
Dr. Fruin, Dr. Blok, and Dr. Muller. (Four series.) 
The Hague, 1837-1904. See Nos. i and 2; New Series, 
No. 6; Third Series, Nos. 2 and 8, etc. Certain of these 
valuable articles are now reprinted in Fruin 's collected 
works. 

Memoires couronnes et autres M^moires. Publics par 
I'Academie Royale de Belgique, Bruxelles. Vol. xxi., 
1 881. Geschiedenis van Jacoba van Beieren. Frans de 
Potter, Many records reprinted. See other volumes 
of the series; see also Journal des Savants (Paris, 1899) ; 
Bibliotheque de I'Ecole des Chartes (Paris, 1903, Ixiv.). 
Other local collections should also be consulted under 
names of cities and provinces. 

Chronicles by authors of fifteenth century (French and 
Netherland) : 

Froissart, Jean (b. 1337, d. 1410?). Chroniques de France, 
d'Angleterre, d' Ecosse, d'Espagne,de Flandres. 26 vols. 
Ed. Kervyn de Lettenhove (Bruxelles, 1867-77). The 
English translation used is that by Sir John Bourchier, 
Lord Berners (1523-25); reprint, 1901. 



3i8 Biblioarapb? 



Froissart, himself a native of Valenciennes, is a valu- 
able authority for the times of Count William VI and 
for the last years before Jacqueline's birth. 

Dynter, Edmund de (d. 1448). Chronica nohilissimorum 
ducum LotharingicB et BrabanticF ac regum Francorunt 
auctore magistro Edmundo de Dynter. Liber VI. Series 
Chroniques Beiges. Bruxelles, 1857. 

The rector of the University of Louvain, P. F. X. De 
Ram, brought out an edition of this chronicle with the 
addition of a French translation by Jean Wauquelin 
Edmund de Dynter was private secretary to John IV of 
Brabant, and to Philip of Burgundy. He had many 
opportunities to know the inner history of the Court of 
Brabant, as he was frequently employed on confidential 
business. In 141 7 he assisted in the negotiations for 
Jacqueline's marriage. Very often, however, his testi- 
mony in regard to her is of little value, as he wrote at the 
behest of Philip of Biu-gundy and coloured his state- 
ments to suit his patron. The great value of his work 
is that he had access to state papers and archives, and 
incorporated many into his text. At the same time, as 
he omits what might displease Philip, his narrative must 
be supplemented in many places. He states that he is 
induced to write of the wars between Jacqueline and her 
cousins because many talk much {multi multum loquun- 
tus) , and the assertions of the wicked prevent truth com- 
ing to light. He hopes that when his words are read, the 
world's eyes shall never again be darkened by falsifica- 
tion. 

De Brabantsche Yeesten of Rijmkronijk van Braband. Derde 
deel. Edited by J. H. Bormans. {Chroniques Beiges.) 
Bruxelles, 1869. See Book VII. 

This rhymed narrative of the deeds of the dukes of 
Brabant consists of two parts. The first, by Jean le 
Clerc, or Jean de Boendale, was finished c. 1350. The 
continuation, which alone concerns our Jacqueline, was 
finished 1440, by an unknown author. He himself states 
that he was in the service of John of Brabant. After 
describing the Duke's death, 1427, he adds: 



Blbliograpbi? 319 



"And above all so was he 
By his servants, be it said to you 
Unspeakably bewailed, 
I speak but true, ah me, with right. 
I was his servant and his knave; 
The noble dear and good my lord, 
Gave me in so many hours 
So many sweet words with his mouth. 
That throughout my whole life 
They will be printed on my heart." 

The seventh book of this anonymous Brabanter covers 
the ground of Dynter's sixth, and seems to be either a 
rhymed version in the vernacular of the Latin history, 
or based on material used by Dynter. 

Le Fevre, Jean, Seigneur de St. Remy (b. 1395, d. 1463). 
Chronique. (Soc. de 1' Hist, de France. Ed. F. Morand. 
2 vols. Paris, 1876.) 

St. R^my was at the battle of Agincourt with Jehan de 
Waurin. Later, he was king-at-arms of Philip of Bur- 
gundy, and was called Toison d'Or. He was at Agin- 
court, accompanied Philip on various campaigns, and 
made many journeys into foreign lands until he was too 
ill to travel. Then he devoted himself to writing down 
his recollections, copying freely from Monstrelet, or per- 
haps exchanging with him. Certainly he adds many 
personal bits. For instance, he is the only author who 
makes Jacqueline jealous of John of Brabant. He says 
that the devil interfered when she went to England. 

Monstrelet, Enguerrand de (d. 1453). ^^ Chronique (1400- 
1444). (Soc .de I'Hist. de France. Paris, 1861. Ed. L. 
Douet D'Arcq.) Vol. iv. 

Monstrelet continued Froissart's chronicles with dim- 
inished charm, but increased critical faculty. At the 
time of writing he was a magistrate in Cambray. Bur- 
gundian in sympathies, he was still less vehemently par- 
tisan than other writers. He uses many originals that 
have now disappeared. Rabelais calls him " slobbering." 

Chastellain, Georges (b. 1405, d. 1475). Chronique. Ed. 
Kervyn de Lettenhove. Brussels, 1863. (Academie 
Royale de Belgique.) 



320 Bibliograpb? 



The author was a jurist of Ghent, privy councillor to 
Philip and on a confidential footing with him. There is 
great charm in the style of this chronicle, which contains 
much about the early years of Jacqueline. Unfortunately 
the MS. for the periods 1422-1430, 1431-1452, has never 
been found. 

La declaration de tons les hauls faits et glorieuses adven- 
tures du due Philippe de Bourgogne also contains some 
disparagement of Jacqueline in eulogising her cousin. 

Fenin, Pierre de (d. 1433). Memoires (1407-1427), i vol. 
Ed. Dupont. Paris, 1837. 

In the main, Fenin copies Monstrelet or his sources in 
his account of the wars of Biirgundy. His style is poor, 
but he is valuable for some facts not found elsewhere. 

Waurin, Jehan de. Seigneur de Forestel (b., c. 1394, d., c. 
1474). Recueil des Chroniques et Anchiennes I stories de 
la Grant Bretagne a present nomme Engleterre (vol. v., 
1422-1431). ("Master of the Rolls" Series. Ed. Wm. 
Hardy. London, 1879.) 

Not many details are known about this author, who 
wrote his history late in life, after he was forced to give 
up active service. He drew freely from all other chron- 
icles, in some cases acknowledging his sources. 

Journal d'un Bourgeois de Paris. Michaud et Poujoulat. 
Col. des Memoires pour servir a I'histoire de France, xii. 

Marche, Olivier de la (b. 1422). Memoires. Lyon, 1562. 
He was page in Philip's court at thirteen, and re- 
mained there until his old age, when he was High Court 
Master. He knew the diike's character well, and is 
interesting for the period, though he says little of Jacque- 
line directly. 

Cronique de Flandre, par auteur incertain. Ed. Denis 
Sauvage. Lyon, 1562. (Boimd in same volume with 
La Marche.) 

Les chroniques des pays de Hollande, Zeelande, et aussi en 
parties de Haynnau. Comte-rendu des stances de la 
commission royale. Bruxelles, 1887. 

Potter, Dire. Der Minnen Loep. Ed. P. Leendertz, Wz. 
Leyden, 1845. 

The author was court secretary in Holland, 1402-1428. 



BlblioQrapb? 321 



In addition to the above, there were many other French- 
Burgundian chroniclers between Froissart and Comines 
who touch more or less on the affairs of the Netherlands. 
Those mentioned borrow from each other, yet all have some 
originality in their work and must be read to supplement 
each other. In all cases documents were incorporated more 
or less accurately into their narratives. Chronological and 
other errors of various kinds abound and must be corrected 
by other data. 

(English) : 

Capgrave, John (b. 1393). The Chronicle of England. Ed. 

Rev. F. C. Hingeston, B.A. ("Master of Rolls" Series. 
London, 1858.) 
The Book of the Illustrious Henries. Trans, from the Latin 

by Rev. F. C. Hingeston, M.A. ("Master of Rolls" 

Series. London, 1858.) 
Hardynge, John (b. 1378, d., c. 1465). The Chronicle of 

English History. Ed. Henry Ellis. London, 181 2. 

The author of this rhymed history was with the Eng- 
lish army in France, and possibly with Henry V at the 

time of his death. 
Henrici Quinii Regis Anglice Gesta auctore capellano in exer- 

citu regio. Ed. Benjamin Williams. London, 1850. 
Chronica Monasterii S. Albani. Annales. A Johanne 

Amundesham — monacho. Chronicon, a quodam auctore 

ignoto compilatum. Ed. Henry Thomas Riley. ("Master 

of Rolls" Series. London, 1870.) 

Later chronicles cited in text : 

Stow, John. Annales; or, A Generall Chronicle of England, 

begun by John Stow and continued by Edmund Howes, 

Gent. London, 1631. 
Holinshed, Raphael. The Historic of England. 3 vols. 

London, 1576. 
Grimeston, Ed. A Generall Historic of the Netherlands 

continued from the year 1608 till the year of our Lord 

1627, by William Crosse. London, 1627. 



32 2 Bibliograpb? 

Meyer, Jacob (Jacobus de Me}^erus) (b. 1491). Rerum 

Flandric arum Annates. Bruges, 1842. 
Gouthoven, W. van. D'oude Chronijcke ende Historie van 

Holland, 144Q-16J6. s'Gravenhage, 1636. 
Velius, D. Chronik van Hoorn. Hoom, 1648. 
Vinchant, Francois (d. 1635). Annales de la province et 

Comte de HainavU. 6 vols. 
Le Petit, Jean Francois. La Grande Chronique de Hollande, 

Zelande, West Frise, etc., jusques a la fin de Van 1600. 

2 vols. Dordrecht, 1601. 

For the debts of the Dutch chroniclers to each other 

see Bijdragen, 1875, p. 347. 



INDEX 



Abele, Floris van, 263, 281 

Agincourt, battle of, 16 

Albert, Count. See Holland 

Alfen, battles of, 163, 175 

Amersfort, 161 

Amsterdam, 30, 164, 311 

Antwerp, 154, 303; Margravate of, 58 

d'Arc, Jeanne, 216, 217; death of, 254 

Arent of Ghent, 218 

Arkel, William of, 15, etc.; death of, 40 

Arkels, the, 34, 57, etc. 

Armagnacs, the, 13 

Arnold of Ghent, 184, 205 

Arras, Treaty of, 255, 256 

Artois, Bonne of. Duchess of Burgundy, 152 

d'Asche, Laurette, 61 

Ath, 145 

B 

Baest, Leon de, 50 

Barante, Histoire des Dues de Bourgogne, quoted, 37, 170, et 

passim 
Baudon, Jacquemars, 77 
Bauge, battle of, 89 
Bavaria, family of, i 
Bavaria, Albert of, Coimt of Holland. See Holland, Zealand, 

and Hainaut 
Bavaria, Jacqueline of, 3, 209. See Jacqueline 

323 



324 llnbej: 



Bavaria, John of (the Pitiless), Bishop-elect of Liege, 6, lo, 
1 8, et passim; character of, 36, 37 ; heads Cod opposition 
to Jacqueline, 39, 40; opposes Brabant marriage, 41-43, 
48, 52; marriage of, 50, 53; acknowledged heir to 
Jacqueline, 56, 57, 87, etc.; success of, 102; death of, 
118— 121 

Bavaria, Lewis of, i, 2 

Bavaria, William of, 1,15. See William IV and William VI 

Beaufort, Cardinal, 254. See Winchester 

Bedford, John, Duke of, 44 et passim, 86, 92, 93, 131 ; charac- 
ter of, 97; marries Anne of Burgundy, 104; prevents 
duel between Burgundy and Gloucester, 158-160; efforts 
of, to maintain Burgundian alliance, 197, 198, et passim,; 
marries Jacquet of Luxemburg, 253, 254; death of, 255 

Beguines, the, 263, 268, 298 

Benedict XIII (Pedro da Luna), 94 

Beiikels, Jan, 32 

Beylinck, Arnold (or Allaert), 178 

Biervliet, Council of, 36, 168 

Bilderdijk, quoted, 58, 221, 249 

Bleeswijc, Bartelmeus van, 279 

Blondel, William, 47 

Bloundell, John, 89 

Boendale, Jan van, Brahantsche Yeesten, 16 

Bois-le-Duc, 134 

Bologna, Cardinal of, 200 

Borselen, Floris van, 120, etc. 

Borselen, Frank van, 120, 172; appointed stadtholder of 
Holland, etc., 218, 219, 233; description of, 219, 220; 
aids Jacqueline, 223, 224; marries Jacqueline, 226, 244, 
245; imprisonment of , 227-230, 236, 240; pension settled 
on, 242; made Count of Ostrevant, 245-247, 262, 266, 
269; portraits of, 310, 311 

Bouchain, 14, 17, 70, 80, 113, 290, 299 

Bouchout, Daniel de, 133 

Brabant, Three Estates of, 185 

Brabant, Anthony, Duke of, 16 

Brabant, John IV, Duke of, 16, 18; marriage negotiations of, 
36-38; opposition to marriage of, 41-43, 48; papal dis- 
pensation for marriage of, granted, 41, 50; marriage of 



flnbey 325 



Brab ant — Continued 

celebrated, 45-48; treaties of, with John of Bavaria, 
56-59,67,68; character of, 60-62; treatment of Jacque- 
line by, 62-67; Jacqueline leaves, 67, 69, 96; willing to 
accept arbitration, 105, 106; willing to renounce Jacque- 
line, 109; dispossessed as Count of Hainaut, 116, 117; 
takes possession of Holland, 122, 123; divorce of, pend- 
ing, 135; restored to sovereignty of Hainaut, 144, 146; 
appoints Duke of Burgundy ruward, 150; death of, 184- 
186, 261; title of, 186; University of Louvain founded 
by, 186 

Brdbantsche Yeesten, quoted, 16, 63, 170, et passim 

Braine-le-Comte, surrender of, 133, 136 

Breda, 155 

Brederode, 198 

Bremmont, Amand de, 50 

Brill, 162, 239 

Brouwershaven, battle at, 167, 172, 180 

Bruges, 206, 232 

Brunelleschi, 300 

Brussels, 20, 185, 215, 234, 281 

Bruweliis, Simon van, 4 

Bruyn, Jan de, 267 

Burgimdy, Anne of. Duchess of Bedford, 87, 104, 152; death 
of, 253 

Burgimdy, House of, 242 

Burgundy, John (the Fearless), Count of Flanders, Duke of, 
18, 36, 46, 56 

Btirgundy, Margaret of. Countess of Holland, 1-3, etc. See 
Holland 

Burgundy, Philip (Cotmt of Charolais), Duke of, 56, 77; in- 
tervention of, in Jacqueline's affairs, 77-79; ambition of, 
87, 88; refuses to acknowledge legality of Jacqueline's 
divorce, 92, 104; aids John of Brabant, 117, 124, 125, 134; 
letters of, to Gloucester, 127, 128, 131; challenges Glou- 
cester, 128; ruward and heir of Holland, 150, 161, 163, 
171; wins battle of Brouwershaven, 167-171; Hainaut 
accepts government of, 188-190; forces Jacqueline to 
sign Treaty of Delft, 206-209; makes progress through- 
out provinces with Jacqueline, 209, 210; in Paris, 215, 



326 llnbey 



Burgundy — Continued 

216; hears of Jacqueline's marriage, 226; imprisons 
Borselen, 227; forces Jacqueline to abdicate, 229, 236, 
et seq.; obtains possession of Namur and Brabant, 230, 
231 ; marriage of, with Isabel of Portugal, 232, 240, 304; 
institutes Order of Golden Fleece, 232; plot against life 
of, 234; makes second progress with Jacqueline, 241, 242 ; 
sanctions Jacqueline's marriage with Van Borselen, 
244, 245; birth of Charles the Bold, 246; acknowledges 
Charles VII King of France, 255, 256; Van Eyck in em- 
ploy of, 303, 304 

Bye, William de, 223, 224 



Calais, 80, 112, 256, 300 

Cambge, Guillaume du, 79 

Cambray, 185 

Charles VI, King of France, 3, 88, 92 

Charles VII, King of France, 255. See Dauphin 

Charolais, Philip, Count of, 36, 56. See Burgimdy 

Chastellain, Georges, quoted, 78, 304, et passim 

Clarence, Duke of, 89 

Cobham, Eleanor, relations of, with Duke of Gloucester, 

137,201-204; marriage of, 205; convicted of witchcraft, 

259-261 
Cocqueau quoted, 84 

Codex Tegernseer, the, 226, 235, et passim 
Cods, the, 122, 157, 162, 164, 167, 189, 208, 234, 235 
Cologne, 187, 278 
Compiegne, 3, 5, 12, 13, 254 
Constance, Council of, 40-42, 48, 50 
Copenhagen, 301, 304, 311 
Cortgene (Borselen), Philip of, 120, 218, 233 
Crespin, 113, 137 
Croy, Anthony de, 244 

D 

Damme, 271 

Dauphin, the (John of Touraine), 9, 11-14; (Charles VII) 88, 
89, 158, 199, 216 



Ilnbey 327 



Delft, 30, etc.; Treaty of, 206, 209, 210, 226, 253, 304; pro- 
visions of Treaty of, 206-208 

Der Miyinen Loep, 290 

De venter, 295 

Dordrecht, 20, 39, 53, 86, 123, 166, 263, 274 

Dorp, Philip van, treasurer of Holland, 4, 5 

Douay, 14 

Douls, Simons li, 95 

Dover, 82, 86, iii, 300 

Duivenvoorde, Dietrich van, 269 

Dynter, Edmund de, quoted, 43, 65, 94, 116, 169, 184-186, 
et passim 

E 

Egmont, William van, 263 

Egmonts, the, 34, 57 

England, 9, etc., 196, 235, 287, 306, et passim 

Enkhuizen, 33 

Everyman, 292 

F 

Faucille, Victor de la, 156 

Feron, Jaquemart le, 112 

Fitzwater, Lord, 165, 166, 169 

Flanders, 228 

Flanders, Count of, 18, see Burgtmdy. Title of, 256, 258 

Flushing, Ludwig of, 30 

Friesland, 102, 208, 288, 289 

Friesland, countship of, 237 

Froissart, Sir John, quoted, 284 et seq.; MS. vol. of, 305-308 

Fuhr, 63 



Gaesbeck, 168 

Geertruidenberg, no, 293 

Ghent, 20, 152, 153, 233 

Gijsbrecht of Amsterdam, 263, 268 

Gillis, Master, 263, 268 

Gloucester, Humphrey, Diike of, meeting of, with Jacqueline, 
82, 86; proposed marriage of, with Anne of Burgundy, 
87; sent to France, 88, 89; marries Jacqueline, 93-95; 



328 Unbey 



Gloucester — Continued 

character of, 97 ; learning of, 97-99; gifts to Oxford, 98; 
appeals for aid to Duke of Burgundy, 104; letters of, to 
Philip of Burgundy, 12 5-1 31 ; accepts Philip's challenge, 
130, 131; returns to England, 136, 137; postpones duel, 
144; consents to arbitration, 106, 107; efforts of, to 
have marriage proved valid, 109, 181, 182; raises force to 
take possession of Hainaut, 1 1 1 ; recognised as Count of 
Hainaut, 116; promises aid to Jacqueline, 157; sends 
troops under Lord Fitzwater, 165, 166; defeat of troops 
at Brouwershaven, 167, 1 69-171; Papal decision in re- 
gard to marriage, 200, 203; petition to, in behalf of 
Jacqueline, 203, 204; marries Eleanor Cobham, 205, 259, 
260; saves Calais, 256; death of, 260; persecution of 
Lollards by, 299 

Goes, 220, 269 

Golden Fleece, Order of the, instituted, 232, etc, 

Gonengiis, Gilliis van, 4 

Gorcum, 39, etc., 56, 240 

Gorlitz, Elizabeth of, 50, 53, 148, 223 

Gouda, 32, 156, 157, 161, 164, 168, 177, 183, 206 

Grafenstein, fortress of the, 147, 153 

Grenier, Jan or Jean, 192, 193, 264, 280 

Grimeston, Edward, English historian, 230 

Groot Charterboek, the, edited by Van Mieris, 54 ^^ passim 

Groot, Gerard de, 295 

Guilbant, Guy, 244 

H 

Haarlem, 30, 164, 281; siege of, 174, 175 

Haarlem, Jan of, 296 

Hague, The, i, 8, et passim, 103, iii, 120, 236, 247, 265, 266, 

290 
Hainaut, 188, 196, 208, 210, 217, 232, 234, et passim 
Hainaut, Count of, i, 52, 96, 105, 106, 108, 116, 257 
Hainaut, countship of, 54, 109, 237 

Hainaut, Estates of, 73 et passim, 95, 96, 114, 116, 188 
Hainaut and Holland contrasted, 20 
Hainaut, Philippa of, 78 
Hal, 95, no, 116 



Ifnbej: 329 



Hameide, Mme. de, 47 

Harpre, Marie de, 72 

Hartford (Hardfort), 95 

Haucin, Willaumes de, 14 

Havre, lord of, 116 

Hearne, quoted, 98 

Heerenthals, 58 

Henry IV, King of England, 44, 256 

Henry V, King of England, 44, 79, 82, 88, 92, 93, 97 

Henry VI, King of England and of France. 91, 92, 104, 105, 

192, 194, 255-259 
Heusden, no 

Hildegaersberch, William van, 290-292, 294 
Hokelen, Jan of, 296 
Holland, 161, 171, 180, 188, 196, 208, 210, 217, 219, 232, 235, 

et passim; education in, 295 et seq.; religious conditions 

in, 299 
Holland, Albert of Bavaria, Count of, i, 285, 288, 295 
Holland, Count of, 257, 258, 295, et passim; countship of, 2, 

54, 237, 239 
Holland, Daughter of, see Jacqueline 
Holland, Jacqueline, Countess of, see Jacqueline 
Holland, Margaret of Burgundy, Countess of, 3, 15, 17, 44, 

66, 76, 85, 209, 231, 232, 264, 269, 289 
Holland, Son of, i, 58 

Holland, William IV, Count of, see William IV 
Holland, Zealand, and Hainaut, William VI (Count of Ostre- 

vant). Count of, 1-3, 14, 102, see also William VI 
Hoogtwoude, Eberhard of, 30 

Hooks, 153, 157, 160-163, 166. 167, 171, 208, 234, 235 
Hoorn, 33, 177-179 

Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester. See Gloucester 
Huss, John, 40 

I 

Isabelle, Queen of France, 1 1 

J 

Jacoba. See Jacqueline 
Jacoba's Preeltje, 269 



330 flnbey 

Jacqueline, Countess of Holland, Zealand, etc., birth of, i ; 
Daughter of Holland, i, 9, 17, 283, 314; various names 
of, 2, 3, 189, 191, 265; betrothal of, to Duke of Touraine, 
3—6; titles of, 5, 9, 14, 67, 95, 99, 102, 207, 209, 239, 246, 
283; Papal dispensation required for marriage of, 8; 
marriage of, celebrated, 8, 279; Dauphiness of Vienne, 9, 
283; death oi Dauphin, 13; proposed husband for, 15, 
16, 40; death of William VI, 17; takes oath of sov- 
ereignty, 19, 24; receives homage, 19-29, 220; character 
of, 19, 35, 85; Cod opposition to, in Holland, 29-34, 39; 
proposed marriage of, with Duke of Brabant, 36-38; 
Papal dispensation for Brabant marriage, 37, 40, 41; 
opposition of John of Bavaria to, 39-43; wins battle at 
Gorcum, 39; generosity of , 38, 70-72, 209, 217, 218, 253; 
marriage dispensations revoked, 43, 50, 51, 76; Duke of 
Bedford proposed as husban for, 44, 86 ; married to Duke 
of Brabant, 45-48; progress of, through Hainaut and 
Brabant, 53 ; at war with John of Bavaria, 53-5 5 ; lands of, 
mortgaged to John of Bavaria, 56-59, 67, 68; unhappy 
marriage of, 60 etseq.; flees from Brabant, 67, 69, 73; 
declares her marriage illegal, 75, 76; fears intervention of 
Philip, 77, 78; seeks refuge in England, 78, 80-85, 3°°. 
301 ; meets Dake of Gloucester, 82, 86; kindness of Henry 
V to, 89, 90; declares Brabant marriage null and void, 
91, 92, 109, 114, 115, 260; god-mother to Henry VI, 92; 
married to Duke of Gloucester, 93-96; acknowledged in 
England as Duchess of Gloucester, 99-101, 106; natural- 
ised in England, 104, 105; consents to arbitration, 107, 
108; her divorce not decided, 108-110, 112, 135; proceeds 
to Hainaut with Humphrey, 111-114; Estates recognise 
Humphrey as Count of Hainaut, 116; Burgundy aids 
Brabant against, iiy et seq.; Brabant league against, 134; 
bids farewell to Humphrey, 137; appeals to Council of 
Mons, 137; letter of, to Gloucester, 138-142; letter of, 
to Count Palatine, 142, 143; delivered up to guardian- 
ship of Burgundy, 145; imprisonment of, 147, 150, 152; 
escapes from Ghent, 153-156, 301; establishes head- 
quarters at Gouda, 157; Gloucester promises aid to, 157, 
162; victorious at Alf en, 163, 164, 175; Humphrey sends 
troops, 165, 166; English fleet captured, 167, 168; over- 



Ilnbey 331 



Jacqueline — Continued 

whelming defeat of, at Brouwershaven, 1 69-171; loses 
all foothold in Zealand, 172; stories of severity of, 176- 
178; validity of marriage with Gloucester still unde- 
cided, 181; effect of Papal bulls on adherents of, 183; 
appeals to Privy Council of England, 183, 184, 1 91-194; 
protests against Burgundy's usurpation of power, 188- 
191; English aid promised to, 194-196; Brabant mar- 
riage declared valid, 200; appeals against Papal de- 
cision, 200; Gloucester faithless to, 200, 201 ; pent up in 
Gouda, 206; signs Treaty of Delft, 206-209; makes pro- 
gress with Burgundy throughout provinces, 209-211, 
301; signs new treaty with Burgundy, 213; takes up 
abode at The Hague, 217 ; meets Van Borselen, 221-225; 
secret marriage of, 226; Burgundy forces abdication of, 
229, 230, 236-238, 301; Countess of Ostrevant, 239, 241, 
244, 262; position of Burgundy and, reversed, 240; 
makes second progress with Philip, 241, 242; letters of, 
announcing her abdication, 243; secret compact with 
Philip, 243; public marriage of, with Van Borselen, 245; 
made Lady Forester, 246; legends relating to, 247-249; 
patron of art and letters, 250, 252, 253; wardrobe of, 
251, 275; jewels of, 251, 280; letter of Henry VI to, 
257, 258; illness and death of, 261-264; will of, 264; 
burial of, 265, 266; expense of obsequies, 266 et seq.; 
effigy of, 268, 269; sale of effects of , 274-276; bequests 
of, 276 et seq., 299; characteristics of, 282, 283, 292, 299, 
300; portraits of, 283, 284, 301-304, 310, 311 ; education 
of, 293, 294; Book of Hours belonging to, 309-311 

Jeumont, Lord of, 114 

Joan (Joanna), Queen of England, 90, loi 

John IV, of Brabant. See Brabant 

John XXIII, Pope, 7, 8 

Jordan, Marjory, the Witch of Eye, 201, 259 

Joris, the sculptor, 268 



K 



Kannetjes, Vrouw Jacoba's, story of, 248-250 
Kennemerland, 33 et passim, 182 



332 1ln&ej: 



Knuypf, J an, 177 
Knuypf, Lambert, 177 
Kyfhoek, Floris van, 263, 281 



Lalain, Mme. de, 47 

Lancaster, Duchy of, 196 

Lancaster, Henry of, 78, 287, etc. 

Langley, loi, 301 

Lannoy, Hugo van, stadtholder of Holland and Zealand, 242 

Leeds, 307 

Leerdam, 56 

Le Grand, Gerard, 138 

Leiderdorp, 263 

Le Petit, Franfois, 312 

Leyden, 30, 164, 166, 198, 295, 297, 299 

Leyden, John of, 263, 268 

Leyot, Richard, 44 

Lille, 152, 194, 209, 238 

Loge, Jehan de le, 112 

Loher, Franz von, quoted, 42 et passim, 293 

Lollards, the, 299 

London, 166, 285, 289, 300 

London, Bishop of, 159 

Louis, Count Palatine, 142 

Louvain, University of, founded, 186, 187 

Luxemburg, 148 

Luxemburg, Jacquet of, Duchess of Bedford, 253, 254 

Luxemburg, John of, 146, 163, 254 

Lydgate, John, quoted, 97, 308 

M 

Maas, the, 167 

Macart, Sergeant, 140 

Martin, Master, 263 

Martin V, Pope, grants dispensation for Brabant marriage, 

40, 41 ; revokes dispensation, 43 ; revokes revocation, 50, 

76, 109; delay in settling divorce, 94, 108, 135, 136, 183; 

grants privileges to University of Louvain, 187 ; declares 

validity of Brabant marriage, 199, 200 



Ilnbey 333 



Mauberge, ii6 

Medemblik, ^^ 

Medemblik, William of, 30 

Mezeray, quoted, 36 

Mije, Jan van der, 270, 281 

Mirror, the, inn at Brussels, 67 

Monnikendam, ^^ 

Mons, 6, etc., 19, 70, 84, 95, 138, 144-146, 190, 210, 217, 299 

Mons, Adolph, Duke of, 46 

Monstrelet, Enguerrand, quoted, 44 ^^ pa^^^'w, 125, 235, 304 

Montereau, 77 

Montfort, Louis de, 140, 141, 184 

Mont Saint Martin, Mme. de, 47 

Musard, Comte de, 310 

Muyden, 161 

N 

Naarden, 161 

Naasterhof , 113 

Namur, 148 

Namur, John III., Count of, 230, 231 

Nassau, Count of, 144, 172 

Netherlands, the, pass over to House of Burgundy, 242, 312 

Noordwijk, 232, 234 

Nothaft, Henry, 302 



"Ooltgens," the, 280 

Orange, Prince of, 145 

rOrfevre, Jan, 114 

Orleans^ Isabella of, 5 

Orleans, Maid of. See Jeanne d'Arc 

Orleans, siege of, 215, 216, 254 

Ostende, 220, etc. 

Ostrevant, Count of, i, 245-247, 284. See under Holland, 

William VI 
Ostrevant, Countess of , 239, 241, 244, 262. Se'e? Jacqueline 
Otto the Great, Emperor, 147 
Oudewater, 32, 161 



334 Unbey 



Papendrecht, 55 

Paris, 12, etc., 112, 187, 215, 216, 255, 289, 305, 309 

Paris, University of, 132 

Paston, William, Letters of, 181 

Percy, Lord Thomas, 307 

Poelgeest, Gerard de, 81 

Pope John XXIII, 8 

Pope Martin V. See Martin 

Portugal, 304 

Portugal, Isabel of. Duchess of Burgundy, 232, 234, 240, 304 

Postelles, ^gidius, 234 

Potter, Dire, 290, 291 

Potter, Gerard, 265, 267, 281, 293 

Poules, Gilles, 95 

Poulette, Agnes, 71 

Puche, Andriu, 95 

Purmerende, 119 

Puyctinck, Jan, 272 

Q 

Quesnoy (Le Quesnoy), 6, 72, 112, 116, 234, 290 



Rasoir, Jan, 67 

Rheims, 255 

Richard II, King of England, 287, 306-308 

Rietuelt, Ermgart van, 275 

Robessart, John, Seigneur of Escaillon, 78, loi, 105 

Rotselaer, Lord John of, etc., 185 

Rotterdam, 56, 167 

Rupelmonde, 228, 229, 236 

Ruyschrock, Jan, 218, 271 



Salisbury, Duke of, 215 

St. Albans, 99, 203, 259, 301 

St Catherine's Day, 236 



Ilnbey 335 



St. George's Day, 131, 136 

St. Ghislain, 137 

St. Jacques, Hospital, 217 

St. James, 80 

St. James's Day, i, 68, 260 

St. Martensdijk, 245, 247, 264, 265, 267 

Saint-Mor des Fossez, 13 

St. Paiil's Cross, 260 

St. Pol, Philip, Count of, 55, 133, 185; becomes Duke of 

Brabant, 199, 231 
St. Remy, Seigneur de, 211 

St. Waltrude, Church of (Wandru- Waltrudis) , 24, 189, 210 
Savoy, 152 
Scheldt, the, 229 

Schoonhoven, 39, 118, 123, 157, 161, 179 
Senlis, 11. 

Sigismund, Emperor, 9, 42, 48, etc., 86, 179, 180 
Sluis, 151 

Smit, Brother Heynric, 267 
Soignies, 63, 116 
Soutberg, John of, 219 
Spierinck, Arnold, 153 
Steynkerke, Mme. de, 47 
Stow, John, quoted, 92, 203, 204 
Sturmy, William, 44 
Sutton, Robert, 181 
Sylvius, ^neas, quoted, 201 



Temant, Lord Philip de, 227 
Texel, 198 

Teylingen, S3^ 247, 249, 263 

Touraine, John, Duke of, betrothed to Jacqueline, 3-5 ; mar- 
riage of, 7, 279; becomes Dauphin, 9, 12; death of, 13 
Touraine, Duchess of, 5-7, 279, 283. S^e Jacqueline 
Toumay, Bishop of, 46, 159 
Troyes, Treaty of, 88, 205 
T'serclaes, Everhard, 61 
Tudor, Owen, 226 



33^ llnbey 

u 

Utrecht, 35, i6i 
Utrecht, Bishop of, 46 
Uutkerke, Jehan van, 175 
Uutkerke, Roeland van, 171 

V 

Valenciennes, 7, 20, 29, 80, 116, 190, 214 

Valois, Catherine of, 90, 93, 226 

Van den Does, Mile., 47 

Van der Poele, Mile., 47 

Van der Berg, Willem, treasurer of Brabant, 61, 276 

Van Eyck, Jan, 103, 14-/, 252, 301, 302, 304, 311 

Van Mieris, Frans, quoted, 54 et passim, 238 

Van Vliet, Beatrice, 4, 30, 118 

Van Vliet, Jan (or John), 30, 118 

Vere, 239 

Vianen, 155, 158 

Vianen, Henry, Lord of, 155 

Vienne, Dauphiness of, 9, 283 

Vilain, Jean de, 170 

Vilvoorde, 63, 185 

Vinchant, Fran9ois, quoted, 304 et passim 

W 

Wagenaar, Jan, quoted, 93 

Warigny, Madame de, 309 

Warwick, Richard de Beauchamp, Earl of, 308, 309 

Wassenaar, Dirk van, 295 

Wassenaar, Lord of, 32, 34 

Waurin, Jehan de, quoted, 202, 206 

Westminister, 260 

Wieringen, 198 

Willesme, Pierart, 71 

William IV (of Bavaria), Count of Holland, 1,2, 289 

William VI (of Bavaria), Count of Holland, i, 3, 8, et seq.; 
in England, 10, 284, et seq.; in Paris, 11-13, 289; illness 
and death of, 14-17, 235; in Friesland, 289; court of, 
284, 290-292; character of , 290 



flnbey m 



Winchester, Bishop of (Cardinal Beaufort), 92, 93, 105, 144, 

181, 202, 254 
Windsor, Henry of, 92. See Henry VI 
Woerden, John van, 120 
Worstede, William, 181 
Woudrichem, 56 
Wyart, Stephen, 45 



York, Duke of, 255 
Ysselstein, 29, 35 



Zalm (or Salm), Guisquin, 283 

Zealand, 8, 17, 20, 38, 46, 52, et passim, 161, 165, 171, 172, 180, 

188, 196, 208, 210, 219, 220, 232, 257 
Zealand, Count of, i, 52, 58, 87, 96, et passim, 257 
Zealand, countship of, 54, 171, 237 
Zierikzee, 123, 162, 166, 167, 172, 218 
Zwieten, Boudijn van, 234 



( 

(owing u 

"I 



Willi im 



IVz] 



Bona of Bohemia. 
Other children. 



1447. 



undy, 



Charles V, 
K. of France, d. 1380. 



Charles VI, 
K. of France, d. 1422. 



Louis, John, Charles VII 

d. 1415. D. of Touraine. 



pphrev, 

floucester» Count 



d. 1417 

= John, D. of Bedford 



Margaret, m. William VI 
of Holland. 



I GENEALOGICAL TABLE 

I 
Showing relation between the reigning Houses of England, France, Holland, and Burgundy. 



U un III, Count ot Holland-Hainaut = Jeanne, sisler of Philip VI, K, of Franc. 



John. K. of France = Bona of Bohemia. 





- 


'■J' 


K. of England, 




= Phil 
1 (O.he 


ppa of Holland-Hainan., 
rchildre^n^'^ 


■" 


aCP 
.0 


incc, 
Eng 


(3d son 


J 


oho of Gaun 


.,.,B.anoheof„ 


I 


T" 


'^^^^ 


gland, Henrv'Sf 


« 


r 

nV 


K.o 


^England, 


Joh 


n, D. ot Bedford, Thomas, 
^■- uSefa^i^aS 



li^illram IV, Count of Holland-Hainaut, 



Henry VI, K. of England, 



r Bavaria, Emperor of Germai 



"iailrL 






Succcded his father. Count of Hollnnd-Hainaut. 



Burgundy. I Count ot Holland, eti 



Humphrey, D. of Gloucester Si. 
Lord Frank van Boreelcn (4). 



e = John, D. of Bedford. 



Charles V, 
|d..5s8. 
Philip II of Spai 



Petrarch 



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